


piece by piece (you become a part of me)

by Iza456



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Clarisse (Claire) Laurel Lance, F/F, Happy Ending, Kid!Avalance, and one in the past, double plot line, growing up on the waverider, not in grave detail but still enough to be mentioned, one in the present, quite a bit of angst but it's gonna be alright, two badass moms and the legend family, warning for violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-01-14 23:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18486427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iza456/pseuds/Iza456
Summary: “Hey,” Sara whispered, moving her hands to her daughter’s face, her thumbs swiping away the tears that were running down her cheeks, “We’re going to be fine. Remember? When did a Legend ever go quietly?”Clarisse scoffed back a laugh, watery eyes meeting her mom’s, “I’m no Legend.”“Oh, kid,” Sara breathed, her lips curving into a brilliant smile, “You’re the best part of us.”OrSara and her daughter get trapped in an anachronism filled timeline where Sara is forced to reveal her dark past to protect them, while Ava and the Legends work together to bring them back to the present.





	1. Chapter 1

It was supposed to be an easy mission, that’s the only reason Sara allowed her to tag along in the first place, but she had never planned on a small army of sword wielding gladiators to be there. Gideon had reported that the anachronism was a level three, easy enough to fix on her own and be back before dinner.

But this was never part of the plan.

_God_ , Ava was going to kill her.

The sixteen-year-old at her back was breathing hard, Sara could feel the fear running off her daughter in waves as they prepared to fight their way out of this mess.

“Mama,” Clarisse Laurel Lance murmured, the taller girl pressed her back into Sara as she swirled her dagger, “we won’t be able to hold them off for long on our own.”

Sara’s eyes were scanning over the surrounding warriors, her heart racing as she tried to come up with some sort of plan to get them out of this. The army seemed to be looming closer as she and her daughter shifted on their feet. Shit. Sara chanted the word in her head like a mantra. Pressing the com in her ear, “Gideon, I need you to get us out of here.”

They both waited with baited breaths for a response but much to Sara’s dread the AI failed to respond, “Gideon?”

“Zari said she was going to be running a new update while we were gone,” Clarisse said, her voice shaking from nerves, swallowing, “It must have shut down our communications.”

“Shit,” Sara cursed.

“Mom’s going to be so mad.”

“Okay, kid, listen to me,” Sara said, knowing that in a matter of seconds they were going to have to either drop their weapons or put up the best fight of their lives, “Don’t say a word and stick by me, I’m going to get us out of this.”

“How?” Clarisse asked, sounding so much like Ava that Sara had to remind herself that now was not the time to smile, “It’s just us, and I know we’re good fighters but we’re not this good.”

“That’s why we’re going to surrender.”

“What! No!” the younger Lance protested, “They’ll kill us!”

“Claire,” Sara begged, turning around to grab her daughter’s shoulders. The tears forming in the corner of her eyes broke Sara’s heart, “I need you to trust me, okay? I’m going to protect us but you have to follow my lead.”

“Mama,” Claire gasped, shaking her head, she closed her eyes against the threatening tears.

“Hey,” Sara whispered, moving her hands to her daughter’s face, her thumbs swiping away the tears that were running down her cheeks, “We’re going to be fine. Remember? When did a Legend ever go quietly?”

Clarisse scoffed back a laugh, watery eyes meeting her mom’s, “I’m no Legend.”

“Oh, kid,” Sara breathed, her lips curving into a brilliant smile, “You’re the best part of us.”

Sara spared a glance behind them, “You ready?”

Clarisse’s eyes flashed in determination and that was all Sara needed. The captain spared her a smirk and a nod before turning back around. Sara took a step in front of Claire, a hand reaching back to squeeze her daughter’s forearm in hopes of dissipating the rest of her daughter’s fears.

It was now or never.

There was a high pitch screech as Sara pulled her sword out of its sheath. It was the last thing heard across the expanse of the field before all hell broke loose.

 

* * *

 

_Sara ran through the corridors of the Waverider, her breath ragged as she moved as fast as she could through the ship. Gideon had warned her when she boarded with the rest of her team that Ava had walked through a portal about an hour before and seemed distressed. It had only sent Sara’s heart racing as dread flooded her system._

_Ava was supposed to be seeing her parents today, claiming that she needed closure and the only way she could be sure was by going and talking to them in person. Because despite everything, despite the lies built around their relationship, Ava still loved them. To her, they were her parents, even if it was only a job for them._

_The captain had planned on going with her wife for moral support but had to pull out at the last minute to help the Legends. But now, more than ever, Sara wished she could go back in time and stand by the woman who she was, somehow, still falling helplessly in love with._

_Slowing to a walk, Sara passed through the opening doors of their quarters, her heart stopping momentarily from the site in front of her. Ava was sitting on the edge of their bed, eyes bloodshot, a tissue in hand as she looked up to the sound of Sara’s entrance._

_“I’m okay,” Ava said, her voice cracking under the pressure of tears._

_Sara sighed, as she sank to her knees in front her, “Ava.”_

_“No,” Ava protested, raising her hand to wipe away her tears, a choked laugh escaping her, “I don’t really know what I was expecting but um, I’m glad I know.”_

_Sara closed her eyes momentarily before pushing up and pressing a kiss to Ava’s lips, “I’m so sorry,” she said as she pulled back, her thumb brushing gently against Ava’s cheek, catching a stray tear._

_Ava shrugged, her lips curling in an attempt of a smile, “It’s fine.”_

_“You don’t have to do that.”_

_“Do what?”_

_“Act like you’re okay,” Sara said, tilting her head to catch Ava’s eyes when she ducked away, “Aves, come on. Talk to me.”_

_The director shook her head, her eyes pointing skyward for a moment until they fell back down to meet Sara’s, letting out a deep breath, “They came to our wedding.”_

_Sara’s eyebrows furrowed, pulling the chair from the desk to sit in front of Ava, “I know…”_

_“And I thought that maybe,” Ava shook her head, her tongue darting out to wet her lips, “I don’t know, I guess I thought that meant they actually wanted to stick around, that they cared.”_

_Sara paused, carefully considering her words before speaking. The last thing she wanted to do was give Ava false hope, and she knew for a fact that telling her everything was going to be okay would be a lie. Most things in this life weren’t easy, but when it came to Sara and Ava things tended to be especially difficult. They were in no shortage of hardships in their life, but now that they had each other, it helped more than either of them could put to words._

_“I think they do,” Sara quietly spoke, catching Ava’s attention, “in their own way, that doesn’t mean that what they are doing is okay but I think they care.”_

_“Then why would they tell me that they didn’t want to be a part of my life anymore,” Ava asked, desperately seeking for answers, “We’re having a baby, and they’re telling me that they think it would be better if they weren’t involved.”_

_“Hey,” Sara whispered, “we’re going to figure this out. Together. And that kid is going to have a hell of a family with or without your parents.”_

_“I know,” Ava breathed, thinking of the Legends and how they were going to go nuts when they find out about new edition coming into their lives, “I know that, but I still wish…”_

_“That they wanted to be a part of our life?”_

_Ava nodded, she wiped a tissue under her eyes cleaning the mascara that had watered down while she was crying, “Well, at least I have you.”_

_“At least?” Sara asked incredulously. Ava’s lips curled into a smirk and a light laugh fell from her lips pulling a smile from Sara as well._

_“Yeah, you’re alright. It’d help if you weren’t so stubborn.”_

_Raising an eyebrow, Sara pushed herself into a standing position so she was standing between Ava’s legs, “Would it now?”_

_Ava hummed in agreement before tilting her head and meeting Sara’s lips, “I love you,” she murmured between kisses. The smile reappearing on Sara’s face was answer enough._

* * *

 

Ava Sharpe tried to ignore the tendrils of worry that had weaved themselves into her mind. It wasn’t unusual for her wife and daughter not to contact her throughout the day but for some reason, she was not able to put her mind to rest.

Sighing in frustration, Ava threw her pen down onto her desk and ran a hand over her face. She only had a couple more documents she had to look over before she could go home. It would take all of twenty minutes if she could just focus.

Sparing a glance at the time in the corner of her computer screen, Ava let go of what little resolve she had and reached for her phone.

Disappointment flooded through her when she tapped the screen and saw no new notifications. Unlocking her phone, Ava tapped her wife’s name and raised her phone to her ear listening as it continued to ring.

Ava slowly shook her head in disbelief when Sara didn’t answer. She was letting her mind get the best of her. They were okay, she impatiently hit end, and clicked on the next contact; Claire’s number did the same.

Closing her eyes, Ava took a hold on her mind and kept it from wandering down the dangerous path of worst case scenarios. It was not going to do her or anyone else any good if she spiraled into a panic before she had all the information. All she knew right now was that Sara and Claire weren’t answering her calls.

When she opened her eyes again, Ava stood and flipped her wrist over, opening a portal to the Waverider with her time courier. Her path was direct and allowed her to immediately step onto the bridge and directly into chaos.

She stood frozen as Zari ran to the control panel, and stabbed at buttons with a chorus of repeated curses flowing from her. Nate and Charlie were zoned into the screens in front of them. Both of them did not seem very pleased with what they saw. Mick was mumbling under his breath, seething in anger as he tipped back a beer. His eyes seemed to pointedly follow Zari and Ray was nowhere to be found.

When Ava finally took an unsteady step forward, she quickly stumbled to the set of panels where Nate and Charlie stood. Her eyes flickered over a screen as the word “no” fell from her lips. She felt her world being ripped out from beneath her. All she could concentrate on was the loud beating of her heart.

She was so fixated on the pain gripping her heart, that despite the team’s efforts to bring her back to the present, she could only see Sara and Claire stranded in some unknown world injured or worse already dead.  

A hand grasped her elbow, a hand that was distinctly not Sara’s and a voice that didn’t match hers either.

“Ava.”

Swallowing back her tears, Ava somehow pulled herself back to the present and asked, “How did this happen?”         

“I don’t know,” Zari whispered, her eyes filled with regret, “but Ava, we’ll find them. I promise.”  

Ava met Zari’s eyes for the first time since she entered the Waverider, blue zeroed in on brown as an unsteady breath escaped her, “Start from the beginning.”


	2. Chapter 2

_Ava eyes remained on Sara as she watched her quickly move around the bedroom, collecting pieces of clothing that she had lost the previous night, “You don’t have to leave, you know?”_

_“What?” Sara said distractedly, her eyes not meeting Ava’s. The Director couldn’t stop the small smile at the sight of her. Sara’s hair was a tousled mess from the night before, and the sun reflected beautifully off her bare skin as she reached down to grab her shirt._

_The blonde roughly pulled the shirt over her head, barely taking the time to pull it all the way down before shoving her legs into a light pair of jeans. Ava studied the details of Sara’s movements, her heart seizing at the recognition of just how far gone she was for this woman._

_“Stay.”_

_“Ava,” Sara whispered, stopping as she tilted her head in sympathy, “You know I can’t.”_

_Ava opened her mouth to protest, but she knew Sara was right. They were supposed to be taking a break. At least, that’s what they decided when they had had another full-blown argument over who was taking the lead on an anachronism._

_Sara grabbed her jacket from the rest at the end of the bed, pausing, her eyes seemed to scan over Ava. The director’s breath caught in the back of her throat as those cobalt eyes roamed over her but before she could muster up the strength to say anything, Sara was whispering a goodbye and walking out the room._

_Ava rolled her eyes as she collapsed back onto the bed, a hand coming up to cover her face as a sad, self-deprecating laugh rolled from her. She didn’t know how to do this. She didn’t know how to stay away from Sara when she was constantly being pulled in her direction. It felt uncontrollable._

_But they had decided to take a break._

_So that’s what they were doing._

_Even if it was one of the most absurd arrangements in the world, Sara was sticking to it and that meant so was Ava._

* * *

 

Sara welcomed the weight of the sword in her hand, as she adjusted it in her palm and got into a more defensive position, “We’re going to put up a bit of a fight, okay kid?”

“Fucking hell,” Claire murmured from behind her mother, “I thought you said we were surrendering.”

Sara smirked at the timing of her daughter’s colorful language, “If we don’t do this now, it’s going to be harder to establish any control later on. They need to know that we’re not just going to roll over.”

“Great,” the young blonde sarcastically replied, “so we’re actually giving them a reason to kill us.”

“It won’t get that far,” Sara assured while closely watching the gladiators around them, waiting for one of them to make the first move, that’d be her opening, “just a few injuries and then we lay down our weapons. Got it?" 

“Yeah.”

As soon as the word fell from Claire's lips, the first warrior charged towards Sara. She quickly deflected his attack, and with a quick circle movement, she had him disarmed, her sword swiping across his lower legs. He was the first to fall.

Sara heard the sound of her daughter putting up just as good of a fight behind her.

A warrior cry sounded from her right, and Sara quickly spun, blocking the sword from coming down upon Claire. She growled as he pressed his weight down upon her sword. But with the scream of metal on metal Sara pulled her sword out from under her attacker’s, his weight toppling him over. Sara brought the hilt of her weapon down upon the back of his head. 

“How are you doing, kid?”

“Peachy,” Claire grunted, rounding her back as a sword swung, aiming to swipe across her stomach. With an unexpected drop, Claire swept the legs out from under the gladiator. He fell with a hard thud against the dirt.

Sara and Claire continued to match the gladiators blow for blow. They made sure that none of their attacks were lethal but also maintained enough speed and accuracy so that they were hurt enough not to jump up again.

It was when the next gladiator charged towards Sara, that she saw her next opening. With a quick maneuver, Sara had the gladiator bent at the knees with her sword pressing against his neck.

“Stop!” she called out against the army, her voice inflicted with enough heavy breathing to give the illusion that they were losing an already lost battle. She focused on the weight of the man’s shoulders against her chest, when he tried to squirm out of her grasp, she slightly changed the tilt of the edge of her sword that had his efforts skidding to a halt.

Sara felt more than saw her daughter breathing heavily beside her, the heat of her body giving the Captain enough confirmation that Claire had picked up on her cues.

A loud round of clapping resonated across the field, and the sound of the army shifting out of the way for the figure moving towards them. Sara didn’t dare let go of the man she currently held as leverage.

“Did you have your fun?” The opposing general asked he stepped forward into the clearing, “Let my warrior go.”

Sara let out a snarl, waiting almost a second too long before releasing her hold on the man. With a forceful push, the gladiator was stumbled forward back into the crowd of warriors. Sara imperceptively moved in front of Claire, “We don’t want to cause any trouble.”

The general’s eyes scanned over his fallen soldiers’ in response, “You have a funny way of showing it.”

Claire moved to stand beside her mom. With a shared glance, they both took their weapons by their hilts and threw them in front of them. Sara sank to her knees one at a time, her hands slowly going to the back of her head, not once did she break eye contact with the imposing figure she now kneeled in front of. Her daughter followed suit. It was not even a second later that Sara gritted her teeth as her hands were roughly pulled behind her back. 

Another second passed and fuzzy darkness covered her vision as a black hood was thrown over her head. With the no hint to where they were going, Sara listened to the shuffle of her daughter’s feet behind her. She just prayed to every god she could think of that they had made a big enough splash in the timeline that Ava would be able to find them.

 

* * *

 

_Sara caught a glimpse of Ava standing in the doorway of the med bay just as Mick lowered her onto one of the medical tables. The Captain sucked in a deep breath, as her stomach once again burst into tendrils of pain, closing her eyes, “Fuck, this hurts.”_

_Mick gave her one of his no-nonsense looks as he reached over her to grab the wrist connector, “That’s what happens when you get shot.”_

_“Ass,” Sara wheezed, sparing him a laugh that quickly dissolved into a series of coughs._

_“Mick.”_

_Sara let out a quiet sigh in relief as Ava’s voice reached her ears, with the amount of pain she was not sure if she had imagined her or not._

_Swallowing, Sara shifted in the direction of her voice, “Ava?”_

_“I’m here.” A hand wraps itself around her wrists, fingers quickly tangling with her own, “I’m here.”_

_Fighting the anesthesia that Gideon was administering, Sara blinked her eyes open to meet Ava’s tear-filled ones, “I – I’m gonna be okay.”_

_A distressed laugh fell from Ava’s lips, and Sara winced in pain as Ava leaned over to press a gentle kiss against her forehead, whispering, “You better be, Lance. Now get some rest.”_

_Sara nodded as she surrendered to the pain and anesthesia, the last thing she remembered was the feeling of Ava’s hand brushing her hair back from her face and the words ‘I love you’ being whispered near her ear._

 

_Ava stayed near Sara’s bedside for the rest of the evening, minutes morphed into hours and before she knew it Gideon was dimming the lights to simulate nighttime. Letting out a sigh, Ava dropped her gaze to the hand she was currently holding. She had been subconsciously running her thumb over the back of Sara’s hand for the last hour._

_“How is she doing?”_

_Ava licked her lips, as she slightly turned her head to see Amaya leaning against the doorway, “Good. I think. Gideon’s almost done repairing the wound.”_

_“Good,” Amaya stepped into the room, her own eyes roaming over the captain and eventually landing on the hand that Ava was still holding. Nodding in the direction of it, “She misses you, you know.”_

_Ava followed the movement, her heart constricting as she looked down on the injured blonde. Sara was always willing to put herself in the middle of a fight, especially when it came to protecting her team, “Did she tell you we were taking a break?”_

_“No, the team had a hunch, but Sara never specifically said anything on what happened between the two of you.”_

_“I probably shouldn’t even be here,” Ava whispered to no one, and even as she verbalized it she did not make a move to leave. She knew she would not be able to leave Sara’s side until she knew for sure that the captain was okay._

_“Ava, look, I know this isn’t my place,” Amaya raised a hand in submission when Ava looked up, “but you are both idiots if you don’t get over yourselves and fix this mess.”_

_“It isn’t that easy, we_ – ”

_“Had a fight,” Amaya laughed, “couples fight. Especially, when they are both fiercely protective of the other and of their mission to save time.”_

_Ava shook her head, “I wish it was that simple, but I don’t think I can handle us constantly being at odds with each other.”_

_“Do you love her?”_

_“Of course.”_

_“Then that’s what you hold onto, the rest of it,” Amaya shrugged with a curve of her lip, “will fall into place.”_

_Ava opened her mouth to respond, but Amaya just glanced in the direction of Sara with a wink before leaving the med bay._

_“She’s right you know. We’ve both been acting like idiots.”_

_Ava sharply looked in the direction of the voice, her heart racing as she met Sara’s calming blue eyes. Her name came out as a breath._

_“I shouldn’t have walked out on you this morning.”_

_“Sara, it’s okay, you don’t have to_ – ”

_“No, I do.” Sara protested, pulling herself into more of a sitting position, “When you asked me to stay, I should have, I wanted to, but I just, I was so scared of losing you. And the easiest solution seemed to be walking away. I am so, so sorry Ava, this is all - ”_

_“It’s not,” Ava interrupted, “I had just as much a part in this as you. We both made the decision to take a break, but if you want us, really want us, then I’m in. All you have to do is ask.”_

_“Stay,” the word fell quickly from Sara’s mouth, her eyes tracing Ava’s face. They were filled with anxiety and fear but all Ava felt was happiness as she placed a hand on Sara’s cheek her answer of ‘yes’ being cut short when Sara moved forward to capture her lips in a kiss. Ava sank into it as she moved her chair forward and brushed her thumbs along Sara’s jawline. Murmurs of ‘I love you’ were whispered between them and when Sara pulled away, Ava made the same promise. A promise that she would never leave for as long as Sara wanted her._

* * *

 

Zari rapidly went over the events of how Sara and Claire displaced, and as focused as Ava was, she was still having trouble keeping up with the intake of the information. All she knew right now was that her wife and daughter went to clear up a simple level three anachronism and now was somewhere in history. At some point during Gideon’s update, all coordinates in the last twenty-four hours were wiped from the AI’s hard drive.

Ava cut off Zari’s explanation with an, “Is there any way to retrieve that information? Maybe a backup hard drive?”

“I’ve done everything I could think of,” Zari shook her head as she pulled up the data on her tablet, “I can’t find it anywhere.”

Ava took the tablet as Zari held it out to her, looking at the data it was clear that Zari was telling the truth. There was no data for the last twenty-four hours. Sighing, Ava threw the tablet on the table and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Claire had said something about Gladiators,” Charlie said, an eyebrow raised as Ava cut a sharp look in her direction.

“Gideon?” Ava called out.

“ _Director Sharpe_.”

“Pull up the time period where Gladiators were most prevalent.”

The screens of the control center in the middle of the bridge lit up, “ _They were prevalent from 105 BCE to 404 CE, precisely.”_

Ava made her way to the center of the bridge, crossing her arms as she came to a stop, “Set up a perimeter monitoring that time period, anything that seems minutely out of place needs to flagged and reported.” 

“Ava,” Nate said hesitantly, “There’s a five hundred year gap if anything – ”

“I know the risks, Nate,” Ava replied sharply, meeting his eyes from across the room, “but we _literally_ have nothing else to go on.”

“Hey, we’re going to find them,” Zari walked near Ava, a hand on her shoulder, “I promise.”

Ava let out a despondent chuckle as she closed her eyes and leaned on control center with both hands. She was not going to cry, not here, not now. Not when there was still hope.

The team continued to work on finding leads well into the night before Ava finally sent them to their respective quarters. It wasn’t going to do anyone any good if they were all too exhausted from lack of sleep.

Ava took up refuge in Sara’s office, continuing to pull up any slight changes in history. She was looking for something specific, she just didn’t know what it was yet. It wasn’t until she reached the year 399 CE that Ava sat up a little straighter. Gideon had marked the time displacement as an unexplained quarrel that led to the death of an innocent gladiator.

That sounded like her girls.

“Gideon.”

“ _Yes, Mrs. Sharpe_.”

“Plot a course to 399 CE, and wake the team.” Ava smiled, “Tell them I found Sara and Claire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so glad you guys are excited about this story! It's going to be a bumpy ride but like the tags said I promise it will have a happy ending! I love these women too much to do anything less to them lolol 
> 
> Please, let me know what you thought in the comments below!


	3. Chapter 3

Sara was not sure how long they walked for, a mile, maybe two, but she could feel it in the soles of her feet and in the dryness of her throat. Not a single word was spoken between Claire and Sara, only the occasional huff of annoyance that let Sara know her daughter was still alive and well.

She had deduced a while ago that they were being taken back to the gladiator’s compound, and with their luck, would soon be locked in a cell. Sara could only hope that they would not be separated. It would make this situation that much worse.

It was not until she and Ava had Claire that Sara understood how nerve-racking dangerous situations could be. She knew that being a parent was going to change her, and she was prepared for some of it, but she was not expecting the innate fear that now drove her every action.

She always knew that if it came down to it, Ava could handle her death. It would be hard and excruciating, but Ava was Ava, and she would fight her way through it until she made damn well sure she came out on the other end.

And Sara swore to her wife a long time ago that she would fight until her last breath; spend every last moment she could with her family. But things changed when Claire came along. Sara suddenly did not want to miss a single second of her life, and more than that she did not want her daughter to have to deal with the loss of a parent at such a young age. The idea of not being there for her family – it terrified her.

It overpowered the acceptance that she did not deserve this happy life that she had held on to for so long. In her past, she had caused unsurmountable pain to others, taking lives like it was her goddamn right.

Ava was the person who slowly pulled her back from that ledge, and Claire was the one who finished the job.

That’s not to say she did not have her doubts. Some of it would never go away, but she was better even when the nightmares haunted her dreams and dark thoughts crowded her mind.

Sara returned to her senses as the ground beneath them morphed from grassy dirt to cool stone. It was loud. The sound of metal on thundering metal, yells of men, and the indescribable smell of sweat and dirt. The temperature dropped and Sara shivered as cool air blew past her. 

They were taking them underground.   

Her muscles coiled at the thought, wound to an almost impossible breaking point. _If they laid a single hand on Claire, she would –_

She was yanked to a stop, Sara heard a sharp gasp escape Claire and she physically had to restrain herself from causing some serious damage the idiot behind her. The hood that she had had on since their capture was ripped from atop her head and Sara squinted as she adjusted to her surroundings. A sound of a door opening was her only warning, and next thing she knew she was shoved into a cell, stumbling a bit but ultimately keeping her balance. 

Her daughter, on the other hand, did not have the same luck and a second later Sara watched Claire crash into the ground – hard.

“Hey!” Sara started, but she captured the word between her lips before it got them in any more trouble.

The Guard cocked his head, a disgustingly satisfied smirk on his face, as he forcefully turned her around and undid her cuffs. He did the same for Claire, not bothering helping her stand, and then a wooden door was slammed shut leaving Claire and Sara alone.

Sara rushed over to Claire, helping her into a sitting position, “You okay?”

“No,” Claire spit, her eyes slammed shut as she breathed through her nose, “That _asshole_ just threw me in here.”

Sara sighed quickly assessing the damage, it seemed mostly isolated to Claire’s knees and her left shoulder. Sara swallowed her own retort on Claire’s sentiment, instead focusing on helping Claire shift back so she was sitting back against the wall. The scrapes were bad but not enough to have to worry about an infection.

“We’re going to get out of here. I promised we were and I’m standing by it.”

“How?” Claire asked imploringly, “They just locked us in a fucking cell.”

Sara bit back the warning of Claire’s language, instead she sank down near her daughter, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, careful of her injuries. Even so, Claire leaned into her mom, “Why do you think we started that fight back there?”

“Because we’re idiots.”

“No,” Sara laughed, her eyes capturing her daughters, “because your mom is going to be scouring the timeline for us and we needed to help her out a little bit.”

Claire’s mouth opened and her small ‘o’ of understanding had Sara smirking. Her amusement quickly faded when a moment later she spotted the fear in Claire’s eyes, “She’s going to find us, right? Even here?”

“Yeah, kid,” Sara whispered, pressing a kiss to her daughter’s temple, “she’ll find us.”

 

* * *

 

The team quickly filtered into the bridge of the ship, most were still in whatever they wore to go to sleep but Ava was not paying attention. Instead, she was focused on pulling the holographic feed of information she found on Sara and Claire’s location at the control panel.

“Ava!” Ava turned around at the call of her name, only to be wrapped in a hug by Ray, “I heard what happened. I’m so sorry, I should have gotten here sooner.”

“It’s fine, Ray,” Ava responded once Ray released her, “You’ve got the kids at home.”

“Tell that to Nora,” Ray grinned, still holding onto Ava’s shoulders. Ava gratefully mirrored his smile, he was always the light in any situation, “She nearly kicked my ass when she found out I didn’t leave as soon as I heard. How are you holding up?”

“About as well as you could imagine.” Ava’s smile fell as she let out a long sigh.

Everyone on this team had been through so much trauma, it sometimes baffled Ava how many times the people they loved were put in dangerous situations. Granted, most of the time they were hunting for them, but despite that, it was still enough to write an enchanting novel.  

“So what’s the plan?” Mick ground out, pulling the attention of everyone back to the case.

Ava clung to the opening and stepped back up to the control panel, “I went through all the files that Gideon pulled and I stumbled upon this anachronism.” Gideon operated in sync with Ava and a second later the anachronism was splayed in front of them all. “Found this gem in 399 CE, there was a death of a seemingly innocent gladiator. My guess is that Sara and Claire got themselves in some trouble and had to fight their way out.”

Everyone’s attention was thoughtfully on the holograph, “That sounds a lot like Sara and Claire, so what’s our plan?”

“We go get them,” Ava stated bluntly, “clean operation. In and out.” 

“Uh,” Charlie lifted a finger, “Shouldn’t we like, I don’t know, come up with a plan first.” 

“There’s no time. There’s already a dead gladiator, it’s not a far stretch to say that Sara or Claire could be injured as well,” Ava pointed out. “I can’t risk it.”

“Okay, well, we’re at least going in with the right gear.” Zari turned, walking backward towards the left branch of the Waverider, “Mick, Nate, come with me, we’ll grab it for everyone.”

Ava let out a breath in relief, her eyes briefly met each of the remaining Legends’, “Thank you, guys. I’m sorry, I just can’t wait another minute.”

“They’re your family,” Ray responded like it was obvious, “And you’re ours. We know you’d do it for us in a heartbeat.”

 

* * *

 

_Sara slowly opened the door to her and Ava’s apartment, her keys grasped in the palm of her hand to minimize the noise. It was late, probably close to three in the morning if Sara had to guess but she didn’t want to spend another sleepless night on the Waverider._

_They had come up with an arrangement a while back, that on the rare occasion the Legends got back late from a mission, Sara would spend the night on the Waverider and come home in the morning._

_Sara had decided that tonight she’d forgo that option and come home instead. She missed her wife; sue her._

_She clumsily pulled off her boots, leaving them by the door before quietly making her way towards their bedroom. As she stepped through the doorway, Sara’s eyes fell on Ava’s sleeping form – God, did she miss her._

_Moving quickly, Sara quietly grabbed a pair of shorts and a worn t-shirt before going to the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed._

_When she emerged twenty minutes later, she pulled the duvet and sheet back, slipping into bed behind Ava. The blonde in front of her instinctively shifted back into Sara, their bodies molding in an impossibly perfect way._

_“You came home.”_

_Sara smiled into Ava’s back, her wife was adorable when she was half asleep. Pressing a kiss on her shoulder, “I missed you.”_

_“How long?” Ava asked._

_“About a week, you?”_

_“Only the day.”_

_“Good,” Sara responded, her arm snaking around Ava’s middle as she settled into the covers. Time travel could be a tricky thing. Even with the amount of time she’s spent in the business and an AI super mind, their timing could be off sometimes._

_“Sara?” Ava breathed. Sara hummed, blinking her eyes open as she tried to pull herself back from the brink of sleep. She felt the blonde shift underneath her until Ava was on her back staring up at Sara, running a hand down Sara’s arm, “I’m pregnant.”_

_“What?” Sara breathed, her heart stuttering to a stop. She quickly pushed herself up, “You’re serious.”_

_Ava nodded, a slow smile lighting her face, her fingers dancing over Sara’s jawline, “Yeah, love, we’re having a baby.”_

_“Oh,” Sara whispered, a small, amazed laugh escaping her, “Oh my god. Ava!”_

_Ava released her own laugh, as Sara leaned down, roughly brushing a kiss against Ava’s lips, “I love you.”_

_“I love you,” Ava tilted her head up, “I’ve been wanting to tell you all day.”_

_“Sorry for the wait,” Sara murmured, her eyes never leaving Ava’s. Time seemed to slow as unspoken words of love and gratitude and relief tangled between them. A second passed, and Ava could not hold back anymore. She bent up, capturing Sara’s lips between her own._

_Ava moaned as Sara followed her back into the kiss._

 

* * *

 

Ava eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight that bleared her vision as she stepped through the portal. Her heart thundering in her chest, and a weight from the sword at her side. Fear lanced through her as she anticipated the scene that would momentarily become clear in front of her.

_Please, please, let them be okay._

The Legends were inches behind her as Ava’s vision cleared. Confusion and fear colliding into one as the scene became defined and there was nothing but an empty field spread out in front of her.

“No.” Ava breathed, her heart dropping to her stomach. Someone rushed past her but all Ava could hear was the blood rushing in her ears. It was a miracle that her legs didn’t collapse out from under her.

Nate was a good fifty feet out when he whistled, calling the team over, Ava unsteadily walked over to them. “They were here.”

“Nate,” Ava choked, shaking her head. The tears she had been holding back for the last twenty-four hours burned the back of her eyes but she still did not relent.

“No, look,” Nate held out a necklace with a small golden medallion to Ava, and with shaky fingers, she took it from him.

“Claire.”

“Yeah,” He said with too much hope in his eyes, “They were here.”

Ava spun on her heel, clutching the necklace to her chest, she scanned the expanse of the field but all she saw was endless horizons of nothingness.

“I don’t understand,” Ava murmured to herself, “I don’t – how – this must be a mistake.”

“We’re going to find them.”

She closed her eyes, she was so tired hearing those words.

Ava could not remember the last time this much fear coursed through her, but this was her wife and kid at stake. And she had somehow failed to find them even when all the evidence led her here.

_Damn it._

Ava ignored the team and opened a portal back to the Waverider. She felt like all of her emotions were raging war against her. Anger, fear, sadness. All of them were screaming at her for a reaction but Ava just bundled them all into a ball and shoved them deep, deep down.

When she crossed through the portal back onto the ship the team was not behind her.  

 

* * *

 

Ava was on the ship and briskly walking away before any of the team had a chance to step on the Waverider. Zari’s eyes followed the blonde until she walked out of sight.

The team had fallen into a resigned silence. Ray was the first to move towards Ava’s direction, but Mick stopped him by his arm and shook his head, the message was clear: _leave her be._

Zari sighed, “We need to regroup.”

“Zari,” Charlie began, a hand running down her lover’s arm, “Let’s take a breather.”

“We don’t have time,” Zari shook her head as she pulled up the timeline and started putting files on tablets, “Sara and Claire are still out there.”

“I know, Z,” the shapeshifter protested, “but we’re all upset we didn’t find them, it’d be good for morale if we got some rest.”

Zari coldly met Charlie’s eyes, she was trying really hard not to lose her shit right now. Shaking her head in disgust, she threw her hands up, “Fine, take a break.” 

Zari roughly grabbed one of the tablets and walked toward the library cabin. Sinking down on one of the chairs, she started re-examining the file Ava had found.

Slowly, one by one the rest of the team grabbed a tablet and walked towards Zari. In their own way, each of the Legends showed their support to Charlie (a touch, a brief whispering of words) but ultimately, they ended up looking through the files Zari had pulled.

 

Charlie knew Zari and knew her well, and the best thing she could do for now was put some distance between them. So instead of joining the others, Charlie ventured down the halls of the Waverider.

The shapeshifter knew Ava was not okay, no one in this situation would be, but maybe she could still offer some sort of support in spite of it. Or get someone on the team who knew the director better.

Mick’s warning was still fresh in her mind.

She didn’t see a hint of her until she hit the Waverider’s training area. The blonde was stripped down to tights and a sports bra, beating the shit out of a punching dummy. Tears were streaming down her face, but there was still anger burning in her eyes.

And she just kept going, even as Charlie caught her slowing, her punches became stronger, more precise.

For a split second, Charlie thought about interfering on her own. But she knew that she should not be the one pulling the blonde back from this edge.

Only one person could do that, but she was not here, so instead Charlie was going to get Ava the next best thing.

With a turn of her heel, the shapeshifter ran back to the library. Hanging onto the doorway, “Zari.”

Brown eyes flicked up to her own, Zari’s apprehension was clear but when Charlie cocked an eyebrow and motioned towards where Ava was, Zari quickly got up and followed her.

“What happened?”

Charlie shrugged, even though they both knew what had driven Ava to this point, “She’s beating the shit out of a dummy in the training room.” The shifter felt a sharp pain when Zari grabbed a hold of her arm and met her eyes, “She’s going to hurt herself, Z.”

That seemed to be enough because the next thing she knew they were running towards Ava. Charlie stopped at the windows, but Zari didn’t hesitate as she ran into the room.

It was almost painful how Zari desperately called Ava’s name over and over again until the blonde’s movements got weaker and more irregular. When Ava finally collapsed, Zari was there slowly lowering her the rest of the way and whispered soothing words in the sobbing woman’s ear. 

They were going to find them. They had to.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I just wanted to check in and give you a little update on what's happening on my end. 
> 
> I finally have the rest of this story planned out! Yay!! And I don't know if you noticed, but I edited the tags and added another three chapters (might be more if I have to split some sections which will more than likely happen). I also decided to add a warning for violence, I do not plan for it to get too detailed, but I want it to be there in case it might in any way be triggering (this is for a later chapter). 
> 
> Other than those few announcements I hope you all enjoy the chapter! I can't tell you how much all of your comments and kudos mean, and I hope they keep on coming! Thank you for reading!

Ava knew she needed to stop. The endorphins flooding her system might have given her a break from the swirling storm that was her emotions but with each punch, her muscles recoiled. Pain shot through her arm, while her body begged her to stop.

She ignored it and kept going.

Punch after punch.

She needed this. This short reprieve from thinking about her wife and daughter being lost in the timeline. The fact that _she_ couldn’t find them. That they might be hurt or worst dead.

_They could be dead_.

Her punches became lethal at the thought; silent tears streamed down her face but she barely noticed. She wanted to blame someone for this, put it on an entity that was purposefully out to hurt her and her family. But the sad truth was she had nobody to blame but herself.

She should have been faster. Should have realized sooner. She knew something had been wrong. Her instincts screaming at her the entire day. But instead, she buried them, turned her attention to work and wasted hours of time that could have been used to save her wife and child.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat, _it was all her fault_.

“Ava!”

Ava heard her name being called from a distance but she ignored it too. All of her focus fixating on that one unhealthy thought. It was a steady beat as the words repeated themselves in her head. 

“Ava, please, you’re going to hurt yourself!” 

A sob erupted from deep within her. W _hat was the fucking point if she didn’t have them?_ The next punch she threw did not have the same impact. Neither did the next. She felt off balanced and with the way exhaustion quickly wrapped itself around her as she slowed it was not a far stretch.

Ava stumbled, hands grabbing on to the first thing she could reach, “It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.”

“No, Ava, no,” Zari breathed.

Ava barely heard her, she was sinking to the floor as unfamiliar arms wrapped themselves around her stomach. She curled into the body beside her, her arms wrapping around the figure that she was quickly realizing was Zari.

“I can’t do this,” Ava sobbed into the other woman’s shoulder, “not without them.”

“Hey,” Zari breathed, she ran a hand down Ava’s back, “You’re not going to have to. We might not know where they are right now but I promise we are going to find them. Okay?”

Ava shook her head vehemently, she clenched at the shirt beneath her fingers, “You can’t promise that.” 

“I can,” Zari replied fiercely, “Ava, we have Claire’s necklace. We know they were there we were just wrong about the timing. We’re all working our hardest to find them and we will. And in the meantime, you know Sara will protect them.” 

Ava’s panic eased as she processed the facts Zari laid out in front of her, swallowing, she pulled back from the embrace. Her mind slowly becoming clearer, “Sara taught you that?”

Zari winced but nodded, “Yeah, she was always scared you’d have an anxiety attack while she was gone. She would tell us to find the trigger and then state the facts.”

Ava fell back into a sitting position. She swiped both hands under her eyes, a self-deprecating laugh fell from her as she pinched the bridge of her nose and sucked in a deep breath, exhaling shakily, “Thank you.” 

“Anytime, Ava,” Zari replied, “you know that.” 

The blonde nodded, gaze shifting to look at the floor, anywhere else but at the woman in front of her. She was grateful when enough time passed and Zari did not try to ask if she was okay, “I should go get cleaned up. I’ll meet you and the team in fifteen minutes?” 

Ava still saw a flicker of worry in Zari’s eyes, but the token-holder just nodded before saying, “Take your time.”

 

* * *

 

Sara tensed, her gaze jerking to the wooden door when she heard a scream and shuffling from outside of her and Claire’s cell. It had been hours since they last heard from their captors and it was starting to make Sara nervous. She was not naïve, and this was most definitely not the first time she’d been in this position. It was just odd that they had not come to flaunt their power yet.

Claire was still leaning against her, her eyes closed and breathing steady. She had fallen asleep a couple of hours ago and Sara had never been more thankful that her daughter was sleeping. It gave her some time to think.

She needed to come up with a plan, and fast, because the longer they sat here with no indication of what their captors were planning, the more Sara’s mind spun to worse case scenarios. Scenarios that she hoped more than anything would never play out.

Her thoughts drifted to Ava, no doubt that her wife had noticed their disappearance by now. She wished she could be there, and logically this situation would not exist if she was, but Sara knew Ava. Knew that she would be blaming all of this on herself, even though it was the furthest from the truth.

Sara never should have taken Claire on this mission, to begin with, but Claire was sixteen and had been apart on the Waverider since before she could walk. She wanted to see what happened on a mission, not just on the sidelines, and Sara did not blame her. She was the same way when she was her age. 

The lock of their cell shifted, and Sara quickly shook Claire’s shoulder while she started to get up, “Baby, wake up, we have visitors.” 

Claire squinted, glaring at her for a moment before she took a look at her surroundings. Sara saw the distinct moment that everything came back to Claire. Grabbing her daughter’s arm Sara pulled her up. 

When the door opened, Sara shifted so she was slightly in front of Claire. The men standing ahead of them were tall, broad men who Sara could take down if she had to but it’d take a considerable amount of energy that she did not have at the moment.

She recognized the first one to be the man who spoke to them in the field, the General as Sara referred to him in her mind. The second seemed quieter, calmer. Her eyes calculated their movements as she gazed emotionlessly at them. They each had a sword at their side, leather guards protected their chest, forearms, and shins.

The perfect soldiers.

The General looked like he might want to charge Sara, but thankfully, something was holding him back. Probably an order from a higher level than him. Even so, the General was the first to move forward, slow and calculating as his eyes ran over Sara in a way that let her know he was on to her, sneering, “You took down a guard and now he is currently in our infirmary on his death bed.” 

“I never meant to hurt anyone,” Sara stated honestly, she felt Claire tense behind her at the man’s closeness. 

“I find that very hard to believe since you took down close to thirty of our men.” 

Sara raised an eyebrow as if to ask _‘And?’_ The general growled as the calmer one stepped up beside him, “The guard you seriously injured is my _brother_ , and you better hope he pulls through or your life will be turned into your personal hell.”

“Matthew,” the calmer one murmured, his hand gently pushing the General – _Matthew_ – back, “They’re not worth it.”

Matthew scoffed, running a hand down his face in a way that Sara immediately recognized as fear. He hesitated but walked out of the cell without another word. 

The calm one just adjusted his hands on his sword, “We don’t know who you are, and we don’t want to take the time to find out. But if this man dies your lives will be put on the line. In this colony, it’s a life for a life, and one of you will pay the debt.”

Sara stepped forward to speak but before she got the chance the other guard gave them a curt nod and walked out the cell. The door was once again slammed shut.  

Sara stood frozen a moment in bewilderment as to where the conversation had gone. Abruptly, Claire let out a choked sob that had Sara spinning quickly on her heel.

“Hey,” Sara whispered, immediately pulling her into a hug, “hey, it’s going to be okay.” 

“I just want to go home,” Claire sniffed, burying her nose deeper into Sara’s neck. Sara moved a hand to cradle the back of Claire’s head while the other trailed up and down her back

She managed a small smile as she pressed a kiss on top of Claire’s hair, “I know, kid, I know.”

Sara wanted to give Claire another motivating speech, but she honestly did not want to feed into the false hope that Claire already held for the situation. Sara knew if it came down to it, she would offer herself up in a heartbeat. There would be no hesitation, and Claire would be safe because Ava and the rest of the Legends would find her.

But there was no guarantee for herself. 

Sara inhaled deeply when her daughter let out another sob her arms encircling tightly around her neck, “I’ve got you.”

 

* * *

 

_It was early on a Thursday morning when Ava felt the first twinge of a contraction. She felt herself tense as the odd sensation pulsed through her body. It was gone before she could even identify what it was. Sara laid behind her, her wife’s breathing a steady presence but instead of giving in to the desire to wake her Ava decided to let her rest._

 

_Ava had not realized she dozed off until she felt that unfamiliar twinge again. This time it was a little sharper, a little more persistent. She closed her eyes, swallowing. She grimaced as the contraction hit its peak. Letting out a slow breath as it ebbed away. Opening her eyes, Ava reached for her phone. It was six a.m. She needed to keep an eye on the time. Just in case._

_The next time it was less of a twinge and a lot more like a needle piercing her side. It was unexpected and a gasp fell from her lips before she could contain it. She was in the kitchen fixing herself a cup of tea and Sara a cup of coffee. She did not know why she felt so relieved that Sara had just walked out of the room to grab her book._

_Sara was there for the next one. Ava hid it well enough but she felt her wife’s eyes lingering on her longer than necessary. They were starting to get longer and closer together. Ava knew she needed to tell Sara soon. But she would hold off, just for a little bit longer. She laid a hand on the baby inside of her, just a little longer._

_A couple of hours passed, and it had gotten to the point where it was undeniable that she had gone into labor. The contractions were longer and harder to breathe through. She was finding herself getting lost in the pain. She barely even noticed that on the next contraction, Sara had stepped up beside her, running a steady hand down her spine as she leaned heavily on counter biting down her cry of pain._

_An hour later her water broke, her gasp of her wife’s name immediately followed. But Sara was there, steadying her, “It’s okay, let’s just get you into the shower, yeah?” A wave of appreciation washed over her._

_“Ava, we need to get you to the hospital.”_

_Ava shook her head, heavily breathing in and out through her nose. This was by far the worse one yet. Gritting her teeth, “I’m fine.”_

_Ava’s name fell once again from Sara’s lips, this time Ava caught on to the snag in her wife’s voice. Glancing up, her exhausted eyes met Sara’s ice-blue ones in the mirror’s reflection. All she saw was fear in them._

_“Please, Ava… for me.”_

_Ava found herself nodding, just as another contraction took hold of her._

_Sara had apparently called the Legends to help, because instead of driving to the hospital as Ava expected, Sara had opened a portal with her time courier._

_She was in between contractions and Sara must have sensed her apprehension because a moment later she murmured in her ear, “I know it’s against regulations, but you’re having my baby Ava Sharpe. Only the best for you.”_

_Ava was surprised when a soft laugh bubbled up from within her as Sara pressed an overdramatic kiss on her cheek._

_Somehow, the contractions got worse. They were pretty much overlapping at this point, and Ava was barely getting the chance to catch her breath before the next one crashed into her. Sara’s presence was once again at her back, except this time they were sitting in a hospital bed and she had both of Sara’s hands in a vice grip._

_At one point, a nurse had asked if she wanted anything for the pain, but she had gotten this far without it she could damn well finish the job. When the nurse fearfully looked in Sara's direction, she could practically see Sara’s signature smirk from behind her, one that said, ‘you heard the lady.’ The nurse quickly left._

 

_Ava was thoroughly done with being in labor. She had been doing this for the last fourteen hours, and now her doctor was sitting in front of her telling her that she had to push on the next contraction._

_A tired sob escaped her as she sank back into to Sara, “I can’t, I can’t.”_

_Sara pressed a kiss against the back of her neck, and in the softest of voices, “Ava, listen. I know you’re tired, I know babe, but you are the strongest woman I know. You can do this.”_

_Ava breathed a silent no but her newest contraction was building fast and she had no way of slowing it down, “Yeah,” Sara nodded, “come on babe.”_

_And so with stubborn determination, she mustered up the strength and pushed._

_Ava collapsed back into Sara, their baby’s screams erupting through the room. She let out a triumphant sob, her smile bright as she reached for her daughter who was being laid upon her chest. The moment she felt the small body of warmth, her eyes teared up and she ran a gently thumb down the infants back, “Hello, sweetheart.” Ava felt her heart swell to an impossible size as the infant immediately quieted against her._

_“Sara,” she murmured, turning her head to see Sara completely in awe of the being in front of her. Ava’s smile widened, her free hand reaching back, “Hey, love, want to welcome our little girl into the world?”_

_Ava’s words and touch seemed to do the trick, pulling Sara back to the present, her hand gently cradled their baby’s head, “Hey there, little one, I can’t believe your ours.”_

_Ava laughed again, turning her head so she could press a chaste kiss to Sara’s lips. When a nurse came to ask what the baby’s name was, Ava didn’t hesitate as she said, “Clarisse Laurel Lance.”_

_The nurse smiled as she wrote down the name, “Beautiful. Do you mind if I borrow her for a couple of minutes? I just need to do a couple checkups.”_

_Ava reluctantly agreed. She knew that Claire would be within seeing distance, but she honestly did not want to lose their connection for a minute._

_Ava sank into Sara’s embrace when her wife wrapped her arms around her, her eyes closing briefly as Sara pressed a kiss against her temple, followed by a whispered, “I love you.”_

_It was not until later that Sara (very) reluctantly left Ava and the baby to go tell the team the news. She was pretty sure she was still in shock, as she quietly closed the door behind her and walked out into the maternity ward waiting area. The entire team quickly got to their feet when they saw her. Sara did not even realize how resigned she looked. Ray softly said her name._

_Looking up with tears in her eyes, Sara finally smiled, “They’re fine, they’re both fine. She’s beautiful. Seven pounds, 21 inches, and perfectly healthy. And Ava was amazing and should recover with no complications.”_

_Nate brought his hands to his head hunching over and exhaling, “Oh thank god.” He quickly reached for Sara and pulled her into a hug, “You had us really worried for a second there, Cap.”_

_Each of the Legends wrapped her in a hug saying their congratulations and similar sentiments as Nate._

_“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you guys. I’m just, I can’t believe she’s finally here.”_

_Zari laughed, stepping closer to Sara, “How does it feel to be a mom?”_

_Sara’s eyes widened comically, before she blew out a breath, “Surreal. Although I should probably head back in there, I don’t want to be gone too long. If you guys want to stick around, I’ll see what I can do so you can see her.”_

_The entire team nodded, and just like that Sara grinned and spun on her heel walking back to the room._

_Charlie let out a snort of laughter, “Did she really think we were going to just leave?”_

_There was a chorus of ‘I don’t know(s)’ and ‘apparently(s)’ and ‘she should know better(s)’ as everyone went back and settled into their seats._

 

_Sara smiled as she walked up behind the team, they were all avidly staring past the glass into the nursery, debating which NICU held little Claire. She pressed a hand in between Ray’s shoulder blades as she worked her way to the front of the group, her finger pointing to the baby second row to the front and three over from the left._

_“That’s Claire,” she whispered proudly, her finger briefly touching the glass where her daughter was from her perspective. There was a collective sound of “awe(s)” as the team quieted and leaned closer towards the glass to get a better look._

_Mick let out a grunt of annoyance after a minute, “I still don’t see her.”_

_Nate slapped him on the arm on telling him to be quiet, which resulted in an indignant ‘WHAT’ from the man. Sara rolled her eyes as Zari directed Mick’s attention to exactly where Claire was in the rows._  

_She was not sure how long they all stood there, just admiring and talking about the tiny person who was now a part of their lives. Sara felt one of the guys casually fling their arms over her shoulders and hug her from behind. Her smile brightened as it quickly became a mess of limbs that might be considered a group hug._

_Their laughter could be heard through the halls as they all tried to keep their balance, and for once, no one told the Legends to be quiet._

* * *

 

Everyone quieted as Zari returned to the room, a determined look on her face as she asked the team to give her updates on anything and everything they had discovered while she was gone. Ray looked up briefly but turned his attention back to his tablet as he continued to subconsciously manipulate the anachronism to different angles. There were a few far-reached ideas thrown into the discussion but Ray knew none of them would be solid enough to run with. 

He did have one that might be enough though.

Ever since Nora had escaped Mallus, she had been working on perfecting her light magic instead of her dark. She had started with the basics and one of the first things she mastered was a location spell. It could be cast onto an object that was connected to someone and the object would lead them straight to wherever they were.

He had not voiced it to the team, but he had a feeling that this might be how they find Sara and Claire. It was a long shot, sure, but if they could get close enough in the timeline – Claire’s necklace might lead them straight to them.

Ray abruptly looked up when Zari let out a whistle to get his attention, “Ray?”

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he stepped forward to rejoin the group around the table, “I was just thinking. We still have Claire’s necklace, right?”

“Yeah,” Nate said, his eyes softening for a moment, “Ava has it.”

“Good,” Ray nodded, “I think we can use it to find Sara and Claire.”

Zari’s brow furrowed as she tried to follow Ray’s thought process, “What do you mean?” 

Ray smiled briefly before speaking, “Nora. If she can cast a location spell on the necklace it’ll lead us right to them.”

“I don’t know, Ray,” Zari started but before she could get far Charlie stepped into the conversation.

“No, wait a minute,” Charlie interrupted, holding out a hand, “That’d be perfect, we’d just have to get a more precise timing of where they are!”

Nate seemed to get on board, much to Zari’s hesitation, as he nodded, leaning on the table, “Alright, let’s play this out. We have their location and we know we were close because we found Claire’s necklace.”

“Maybe if we check the timeline in ten-minute intervals,” Ray theorized, “we might be able to get close enough to find their location.”  

“That’s a lot of trial and error,” Zari criticized.

“We would wait it out,” Nate suggested with a shrug, “We don’t have to go in guns blazing. Let’s first find this time position and then come up with a strategy.”

“Now, that – is something I never thought I would hear said on this ship.” 

Everyone spun around to see Ava leaning against the doorway, a barely-there smirk pulling at her lips. She still looked exhausted but she was a little more put together than she was the last time they all saw her.  

As she stepped further into the room, the team moved to allow some space where she could stand with them around the table. Looking directly at Ray, “Do you think Nora will feel comfortable doing this?”

Ray nodded slowly, “I’ll talk to her.”

“Okay,” Ava paused, “If she agrees then I think it’d be best to start with just the two of us.” 

Ray glanced around at each of his teammates, and one by one they all nodded in agreement. With a nod of his own, he placed the tablet down on the table and made his way to an open space where he could open a time portal.

Ava’s voice stopped Ray seconds before he stepped into his home office. Turning around, Ray saw Ava reaching around her neck to unclasp the golden necklace that belonged to her daughter. With a weighted sigh, Ava reached for his hand and put it in his palm, closing his fingers around it.

“She’ll know if it has what it takes to find them,” Ava said, just low enough that no one else could hear, letting out a shaky sigh, “I want this to work, more than you know. But if she feels at any point like there is too much temptation then this mission stops, understood?”

Ray nodded, grateful and a little surprised by the understanding behind Ava’s words. He knew that his wife and Ava were colleagues, close friends even, but he had never known how much Nora confided in her about her temptation to use dark magic. Or maybe she did not have to, because even when Ava was at her lowest, she still cared deeply about the rest of the people around her.

Now, it was their chance to repay the favor.


	5. Chapter 5

Ray Palmer settled into the silence of his office as the portal to the Waverider closed behind him. It was odd how the necklace still cradled in his palm felt like it was burning a hole through his hand. Maybe it was just the idea that something so precious was currently in his hand, or maybe it’s because he knew this was the Legends best shot at finding Claire and Sara.

With a deep sigh, he reached for the door handle of his office and entered the hallway of his house. He immediately heard Nora and the kids in the living and kitchen area and he took tentative steps towards their voices.

As he rounded the corner of the hall, he had to pause and smile at the sight before him. His three kids were sprawled out on the huge rug while they all played a game of what he could assume as Monopoly based on the box – but knowing his kids they had probably created their own elaborate game. 

Their oldest was eleven, Mya’s hair hung down over her shoulder as she showed Lucas, their youngest at four, how to move the pieces properly. Thomas, who just turned six a couple of weeks ago was watching his big sister tentatively. They barely even noticed as he slipped past, and snuck into the kitchen.

Nora was standing with her back to him. He walked up behind her bending slightly to slide his arms around her waist and press a kiss to the back of her neck. Ray chuckled when she jumped, letting out an explicative before turning and hitting him with the towel she had in her hand. 

“What is wrong with you?” Nora exclaimed, her eyes fixed in a glare as Ray stepped back with a chuckle.

Ray and Nora had remained in the ‘nauseatingly domestic’ stage of their relationship, at least that’s how Sara referred to it any time she saw them interact for extended periods of time. Though if he had anything to say on the matter, her and Ava weren’t much better.

It had taken Nora and him years after Mallus to get on the same page in regards to a relationship. Nora had always been on her own, and even when she knew she was falling for Ray it took longer than either of them expected for her to let him in.

It took years of growth and tears, and heartbreak for them to get to this point. Almost eighteen years later, they now have the house, the kids, the marriage; a perfect life with a spice of time travel and magic.  

“Sorry,” Ray laughed, ducking down to press a kiss to Nora’s lips. She let him, but her eyes became suspicious when he pulled away.

Nora only took a second before the next question fell from her lips, “What’s happening with Sara and Claire? Are they okay? Is Ava?”

Ray sighed as he leaned back against the kitchen island, “Nothing’s going to plan, Ava’s a wreck, understandably, and we’re not having much luck on locating them.”

“Then why are you back so soon?”

“Because I came to ask for your help.”

Nora’s eyes widened as he flipped open his hand and the necklace hung in the air from his fingers, “Claire’s?” 

“Yeah, Nate found it on our first attempt to find them,” Ray whispered, “I told the team that you might be able to cast a location spell on it so we can find Sara and Claire.” 

Nora tensed as the words circled the air between them, her arms coming up to cross over her chest, “Ray.”

“I know,” he said gently, he reached to take her hands, “but you’re the only one who can do this. We need your help.”

Nora scoffed, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, “We have kids, Ray, if I turn dark or hurt someone, I – ”

“That’s not going to happen,” Ray reassured, pulling his wife a little closer to him, “Nora, you’ve been practicing these spells for years, you could do them in your sleep." 

“What if I can’t trust myself not to get lost in it again,” Nora barely managed to get the words out as she rested her head against Ray’s.

“Then trust me.”

Ray kissed her. He knew she was terrified, and he hated to ask this of her but what better way to test her power than when it came to saving family. She could do this; he knew she could.   

“ _Trust me_ ,” he repeated as they pulled away from the kiss. 

He felt her nod against him, so he tilted his hand so that she could see the necklace still laying there. She pressed her palm over his. He heard more than saw her sharp intake of breath as her mind ran a course that Ray would never comprehend, no matter how many different ways Nora tried to explain it.

When she finally stepped back, her eyes bright with a fire he had not seen in a long time, all she said was, “We need to get back to the Waverider. _Now_.”

 

* * *

_Sara and Ava were sprawled out on their mattress. The comforter thrown hazardously over Ava, while Sara had crawled back to bed at some point during the night but never managed to get back under the covers. It was nearing on four o’clock in the morning, and while most of the world had been peacefully asleep, Ava and Sara had not had the same luck._

_Logically, they knew that parenting a newborn would not be easy. That it’d be laced with situations that they would only be able to work through together but they were not expecting the lack of sleep. It had only been a few days since they were able to bring Claire home and despite all the wonders of having their daughter in their life, they could not keep up with her._

_And then they were both beyond exhausted._

_Sara let out a groan when she heard the distinct sound of Claire starting to cry, she flipped over and coarsely ran a hand over her hair to get it out of her face. Not opening her eyes, she reached around until she felt Ava, “Babe, I think she’s ready to eat again.”_

_“No,” Ava whined into the mattress, her breath coming out in a huff. Sara knew it was only a half-hearted attempt at a protest and found herself grinning in tired amusement because of it._

_It did not take long until Claire’s cries became louder and more persistent. Sara somehow managed to roll out of bed and stumble over to the crib that held Claire._

_“Hey kid,” Sara murmured to her daughter who was still crying. She reached in the crib to carefully pick her up, “Shh, it’s okay, we’re gonna get you all set and then we can all go back to sleep. How does that sound, mm?”_

_Ava, who was still on the bed, slowly flipped over and pushed herself into a sitting position as Sara walked back over to her. Sara briefly got lost in the baby who was currently in her arms, her face morphing into a funny expression that had Claire falling silent, temporarily distracted from her hunger. Ava’s lips pulled into a smile as she reached out to take Claire from Sara._

_As Ava got situated and started to feed Claire, Sara walked back around the bed and flopped down beside them. They fell into a quiet conversation; murmurs being whispered to not distract the baby or wake any of them up further. Ava absentmindedly played with her Claire’s fingers as they talked. She found it ridiculous that all Claire had to do was stare up at her with those ice blue eyes and she’d find herself practically melting._

_By the time, Claire was resettled into her crib, Ava and Sara stared aimlessly at the ceiling, their fingers intertwined between them. Sara let go, to shift closer to Ava and laid her head on her wife’s shoulder. She sighed as Ava ran a hand through her hair and pressed a kiss near her hairline._

_Sara took in a deep breath, “I don’t know how we’re going to do this for another two months?”_

_Ava remained silent, her arms tightening around Sara as she shifted in bed. When Sara looked up to meet her eyes, she saw the same uncertainty that had been burdening her for the last few days._

_A soft laugh fell from Ava’s lips, her gaze shifting back to the ceiling, “So we can handle time demons, monsters, anachronisms. Even the people who are deliberately trying to kill us and our family, but we can’t handle our four-day-old daughter and her necessary crying.”_

_Sara snorted at the bluntness and absurdity of the statement, “Well, when you put it like that we just sound pathetic.”_

_“We’re not pathetic,” Ava protested, smirking, “I just think we’re idiots to think we could do this without any help.”_

_“I’d like to think that it’ll get easier over time,” Sara mumbled._

_“It will, but I’m just saying we might want to ask for some backup. We’ve been running on barely any sleep for four nights, and frankly, I’ve never been more exhausted in my life.”_

_“Aw, babe,” Sara whispered, propping herself on an elbow and placing a hand on Ava’s cheek, “I’m sorry, I know how much this must be taking a toll on you.”_

_“No, it’s fine.” Ava smiled, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss to Sara’s lips when she saw worry still linger in her wife’s eyes. “Trust me, I knew what I was getting into - well kind of - but my point is that I think we might need some help from a team.”_

_“You mean the Legends?”_

_“Yeah,” Ava rolled her eyes when Sara raised her eyebrows, “Oh, come on, you and I both know they care about our kid almost as much as we do.”_

_“That’s true,” Sara agreed, “I just - are you sure?”_

_“We can always come back to the apartment if it doesn’t work out.”_

_“Okay.”_

_Ava reveled in the bright smile that now lit Sara’s face, “Okay.”_

 

* * *

Claire Lance didn’t know how to do this. This was her first time taking part in a situation like this and despite any facade, she could throw up she was not her mothers. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, her hands felt clammy, and even with the reassurances, her mother kept repeating she could not calm the fuck down.

“I’m sorry,” She found herself saying, her eyes briefly landing on Sara before bouncing back to her hands, the ground, anywhere but the soft look on her mom’s face. She let out a somewhat hysterical laugh as she continued to pace, “I don’t know what’s happening to me.” 

“You’re going into shock, maybe even spiraling into a panic attack,” Sara explained gently, grabbing her arm as she made a pass past her. Claire came to a halt as Sara said, “Which is why you need to breathe, babe.”

“But Mama,” Claire protested, her gaze pointing towards the door. 

“No, listen,” Sara said somewhat abruptly, “eyes on me.” Claire turned back her eyes hesitantly meeting Sara’s, and then her mother just smiled a smile that had Claire immediately relaxing, “There you go, that’s it." 

“I’m sorry.”

“Kid, stop apologizing,” Sara laughed, “You should never have to apologize for something like this.”

Claire sighed, nodding, “I know, I just - I wanted to make you and mom proud, and I know I should be able to handle a situation like this and I thought I was, you know, handling it, but maybe I’m just not cut out for this type of adventure.”

Sara was shaking her head and as Claire stopped talking she didn’t quite know how to respond to look her mom now had fixed on her.

All she ever wanted was to make her parents proud.

She had never actually told them how much she admired them. Or how thankful she was that they were her parents and that they raised her in the crazy family that she was able to gladly call her own. But now that she was in this situation, one that she might very well not get out of - as terrifying as that was - she wished more than anything that she could go back tell them every thought that had crossed her mind.

Okay, maybe, not _every_ thought. But definitely, the ones that circled around how wonderful they were.

“Hey,” Sara said softly, her eyes looked suspiciously watery and the slight curve of her mouth looked a little more forced than normal. Claire cautiously allowed her mom to grab her hands, and found herself looking into her eyes, the ones that looked so much like her own, “I am always going to be proud of you. _Always._ Nothing you can ever do or not do is ever going to change that. God kid, do you realize how lucky me and your mom are to have you?”

Claire shook her head, the tears that were still lingering from before returned, burning at her eyes. She quickly tried to blink them away.  

There was so much she wanted to say but when she went to go respond no words came out. It felt like there was too much to say and too little time to say it. And she wanted to do this justice.

“We are so, so lucky, Claire. And I know if your mom was here she would be saying the same thing.”

Claire finally just nodded, her eyes dropping back to her feet, as the tears she had been keeping at bay ran quietly down her face. Sara’s fingers quickly brushed them away, and her murmur of, “Aw, kid,” did nothing to help pull herself together any quicker.

It wasn’t more than a second later that she found herself once again wrapped in her mom’s arms. She welcomed it more than she had in a long time, because it was warm and comfortable. And she hadn’t felt this close to home in a while.

“You know; I wasn’t always such a badass.”

Claire scoffed, pulling back from the hug to give her mother an incredulous look, “I find that very hard to believe.”

“No, it’s true!” Sara exclaimed, “I mean I was always athletic but it wasn’t until the shipwreck that I became the person I am today.”

Claire quieted, her thoughts lingering on Sara’s words, “You never really talk about what happened.”

“Yeah, well,” Sara sighed, giving her a forced smile. She ran a hand through her hair and slid down the wall so she was sitting, “it’s not exactly a time that I’m really proud of.”

Claire followed suit, sitting down beside her, “Will you tell me about it?”

Sara hesitated, and Claire almost wished she could take her words back, but she really wanted to know what shaped the woman beside her. She knew her parents weren’t perfect, nobody was, and as devastating as it was to figure that out, Claire now wanted to learn every detail she could about her moms. 

Instead of pushing, Claire slumped against the wall and took advantage of the new angle to lean into her mom. Sara slowly relaxed beside her as Claire rested her head atop her shoulder, and tangled their arms so she could comfortably hold her mother’s hand.

It was then, that Sara slowly started to speak. Her voice hoarser than it was before and a lot more hesitant, like she was calculating Claire’s reaction to every word. Which knowing her mom, she probably was, but instead of reacting, Claire just squeezed her hand and encouraged her to continue with simple questions.

Hours passed as Sara told Claire story after story. The good and the bad. The parts that Claire had only heard whispers of on the Waverider.

She didn’t know what she expected to feel after hearing everything her mom went through, everything she did to survive. But it wasn’t fear or anger, if anything it was pride and astonishment. The fact that she fought her way out of all the despair and found her way to their family.

Sara had talked about Aunt Laurel and her grandfather. And even when a lot of it was heartbreaking, she also mentioned the good parts. Like how much she wished Claire could have met them and how much they would have loved her. 

She talked about Star City, and how she met Ava, and that she wouldn’t trade any of it because without the timeline going exactly the way it did she would never have Claire.

When the stories died out and Claire and Sara found themselves dissolved in laughter over some of the absurdities that the Legends had gone through. Claire found herself completely at peace, and as she leaned back into her mother she couldn’t help but think that Sara felt the same way.  

 

* * *

 

Ava’s gaze was still fixated on the portal that closed behind Ray, her heart felt like it was in a vice grip but there was nothing she could do until Ray and Nora came back. Turning back to the team, she quickly allocated tasks to all of them so they could get started on preparing for this upcoming mission. It was better if they all kept busy. But before anyone could do much as leave the room a portal opened again.

Ava tried to hide her shock as both Nora and Ray walked through the portal. There were equal gasps of Ray’s name from behind her.

“Well, that didn’t take long now did it?” Charlie gave a shit-eating grin, she clapped a hand on Ray’s shoulder as she exited the room to go complete her task.

Nora rolled her eyes and Ray just laughed a little, Ava hesitantly gave them both a smile. She hoped it didn’t look as desperate as it felt.

“I may have underestimated the amount of time I was gone. But look!” Ray said, his arms flinging outward to dramatically show his wife beside him, “I brought Nora!”

Mick narrowed his eyes at Ray, accompanied by a low growl. 

“Babe,” Nora breathed with a shake of her head and a small smile. She sidestepped Ray’s arms and approached Ava, barely pausing a second before reaching up to give her a quick hug, “How’re you holding up?” 

Ava shook her head, murmuring, “I really wish people would stop asking me that.”

“Sorry,” Nora said sheepishly.

“No, it’s fine,” Ava answered, a hand reaching out to stop Nora from walking away, “I just – it’s a lot and I really just want to get them home.” 

“Well, I think can help you with that,” Nora nodded towards the bridge and Ava willingly followed her, “I’m assuming you guys already have some sort of plan in place.”

“Yeah,” Zari responded before the rest of them, “We’re hoping to use time intervals to get closer to their location.”

“We found Claire’s necklace on the first try," Nate followed, "so we were hoping with your help we could find a closer location."

“We’ll start ten minutes from that point and see where it gets us,” Ava concluded, her eyes flicked between Ray and Nora, “The kids?”

“They’re with our friends.” Nora slapped him in the stomach, “Uh – I mean neighbors.”

Ava raised an eyebrow, “They’re on the Waverider, aren’t they?”

“No,” Nora immediately replied but Ray beat her with his innocent answer of yes.

“Where are they?”

“Training room, we brought them a ton of toys they’ll be fine.” 

Ava shook her head with a laugh, whispering to herself, “Even when I think you guys are all grown up.”

“Wait, what?”

Ava ignored Mick’s question, “Zari, would you mind checking on the children, maybe get them some snacks, or some water.”

The totem holder nodded her head, an amused expression landing where Nora and Ray stood before she headed in the correct direction.

“They really are fine, Ava,” Nora explained. 

“Yeah,” Ray said, “They’re smart kids, and we weren’t going to put off coming here because we couldn’t find a babysitter fast enough.” 

“And as much as I appreciate that, I don’t know what I would do if this whole thing somehow endangered your kids.”

“It won’t,” Ray assured her, “this is literally the safest place for them right now. Isn’t that right, Gideon?”

“ _Affirmative, Mr. Palmer.”_ The AI responded quickly.

“God did I miss that.” Ray proclaimed with a goofy grin and his eyes dancing across the ceiling.

“Okay,” Ava finally conceded, her eyes closing briefly before falling on Nora, “Are you sure you’re ready to do this?”

Nora smiled, nodding, “Yeah, let’s go find you girls.” 

Ava gave a curt nod, ignoring the pang of envy when she saw Ray and Nora share a brief conversation. Instead, she busied herself with gathering her backpack and a couple of extra water bottles while Ray gave Nora Claire’s necklace, and gave her kiss before pulling away.

Ava and Nora stood side by side when Ava opened another time portal, she saw Nora glance back over her shoulder to look back at Ray. And Ava resisted giving her another out, she was pretty sure Nora would kick her ass if she tried.

Sharing a glance, they both nodded and walked through the portal leaving the team as it closed behind them.

Ava raises her arms to cover eyes as the sun once again blinded her as she walked further out onto the field. She could hear the crunching of Nora’s boots beside her so she kept walking.

Nora took hold of her daughter’s necklace, cradling it in the palm of her hands. The brunette started whispering words that Ava could not understand but knew were vital to getting this spell to work. When Nora stopped, the necklace brightened with a yellow glow before dimming, Nora looked up and gave Ava smile. 

Ava anxiously waited for something more to happen but when nothing did, she asked, “Now, what?” 

“Now,” Nora scoffed, “now we walk. This magic isn’t exact and it looks like we’ve got a while to go.”

 

It’s almost nightfall by the time they stumbled upon the compound. Nora had to pull her to a stop, shaking her head and directing a look towards the bushes, indicating that they needed to stay back to get a better look.

Ava took a deep breath as her eyes scanned the perimeter, the compound was huge, not even including the deep trench that separated them from the actual establishment. Pulling off her backpack, Ava squatted as she found her scope to get a closer look.

It was swimming with soldiers. Ava could tell that by the minimal coverage she could get with the scope. She had spotted a tavern, a stable, and what looked like a blacksmith. There was also a warehouse-like castle further back that looked like their headquarters. 

“How the fuck are we going to get them out of this?” Ava found herself saying, handing the scope up to Nora.

“Shit,” Nora whispered, drawing the word out as she pulled the scope away from her eyes before quickly raising it back up.

“We’ll have to get someone on the inside,” Ava murmured, it was the only solution she could think of, “if we can see what’s going on and maybe get some insight on their operation, we’ll have a better chance of getting them out.”  

“There are enough men that it shouldn’t raise too many suspicions,” Nora agreed, “Who do you want to be our inside man?”

Ava met Nora’s eyes, a smirk curving on her lips as both woman immediately replied, “Mick.”

“And how accurate does that location spell get?” Ava asked. 

“Accurate enough that it should lead us to them, even in the compound, but it’s like operating with a 2000 GPS system. The more information we have the better.”

Ava nodded, “We should get back to the Waverider, then. This is going to be a lot more complicated than we were originally planning.”

Nora didn’t protest, putting the scope back in Ava’s backpack and pulling it over her own shoulder. Ava gave a hesitant smile, almost following Nora but paused at the last second. Looking back in the direction of the compound, Ava whispered, “Please just hold on for a little longer, I’m coming.”

 

* * *

 

Sara jolted awake as the door to her and Claire’s cell burst open. She was up before she could even process what was happening, her instincts on high alert ever since they were thrown in here.

Four guards charged in, Sara recognized the General first – Matthew. His anger was visible in his demeanor as he charged towards her, it wasn’t until they locked eyes that she recognized the loss. It was the same loss that she carried for so long after she found out about the death of her sister.

Her stomach dropped implications: _A life for a life._

Sara really thought he was going to kill her there and then, but instead, he just threw her face first against the wall, pulling her arms behind her and holding her tightly by the wrists. She faltered as he pulled her back off the wall. 

“Mom!” Claire cried out, but while the General was taking care of Sara, two other guards had moved to hold Claire back.

“It’s okay,” Sara said, her eyes placating, “I’m okay.”

Claire just gave her a look that clearly stated she didn’t believe her. They waited in silence for the General to tell them what was going on but instead the room remained quiet. Dread slowly filled her stomach at the realization that they were waiting for someone else.  

When the quiet guard that they had seen the other day entered the cell, he stoically looked over Sara’s shoulder and asked, “Which one?”

The General paused before nodding in Claire’s direction, “Her.”

“No!” Sara screamed, she immediately started to struggle against the General behind her. Her eyes briefly met Claire’s and she only saw pure terror. Making a split second decision, Sara slammed her head back into the soldier’s nose and took advantage of his surprise to spin out of his grip.

She didn’t have a plan but she had one task and that was to protect Claire at all cost. She’d be damned if she let them take her.

She slammed her fist into the soldier’s nose again, she knew when she started this that she was fighting a losing battle. But honestly, at this point, all she needed was piss them off enough that they would want to take her and not Claire. 

The fourth soldier stepped up from behind her and grabbed her by her shoulders from behind. She quickly used his strength to her advantage, and kicked the General forcefully in the chest, before flipping over the other soldier’s shoulder. She wrapped her arm around his neck in a chokehold; she made sure not to ease up as she usually did.

“Enough,” The quiet one spoke loudly, “Matt?”

“I want her.” He growled in Sara’s direction.

Sara sighed in relief. It was that one second that she let her guard down, that the soldier gave her a taste of her own medicine and flipped her back over his shoulder. She landed hard on the ground, her breath being knocked out of her as she curled onto her side. Sara cried out in pain as he slammed his foot into her ribs.

Her breathing became heavy as her lungs screamed for air. She managed to look up at Claire, she saw the horror and tears in her daughter’s eyes. She gritted her teeth as she is roughly pulled off the ground.

“It’s okay, it’s going to be okay,” Sara reassured Claire, “I love you.”

Sara succeeded in getting one last glance at Claire as she was pulled out of the cell, her heart clenching as she took in every last detail. _I love you_ , Claire mouthed urgently. Sara prayed to every god she could think of that it wasn’t the last time she saw her daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, guys! I know it might sound ridiculous but this is where the story really starts to pick up! Next chapter is another heartbreaker, BUT it has a lot more background character plots and we get to see a really adorable flashback with our favorite girls! 
> 
> I have to apologize for the late chapter, I was crazy busy these last two weeks with finishing up assignments and moving back home. Needless to say, it did not leave me a lot of time to write. 
> 
> As always, please let me know what you thought of the chapter and thank you for all of your kudos and comments!


	6. Chapter 6

****When Ava and Nora walked onto the Waverider, the team were all there waiting for them. Ava shook her head, answering the question she knew they were all about to ask. It took a considerable amount of willpower to not just walk away, instead, she went to the front of the ship, staring out at the green-tinted waves of the temporal zone.

This whole thing had been such a mess since the beginning and with dead end after dead end, they still had no idea if Sara or Claire were okay (which was the most terrifying part).

“What happened?” Ray asked.

Ava crossed her arms, her eyes following a wave as it disappeared into the distance, “They’re locked away in a compound; at least three hundred men, and what looks like high security for their era.”

Nora made a noise in agreement, “We didn’t want to risk getting closer, but we have a plan… sort of.”

“We need an inside man,” Ava told them as she turned around to lean against the panel, “someone who can infiltrate the gladiators' ring and get information on how the compound operates.”

“Wait - ” Nate said with a smirk.

Ray glanced between Nate, Nora, and Ava, “You don’t mean - ”

“Oh my god,” Zari exclaimed, covering her mouth to smother her laugh.

Ava couldn’t hold back her own grin as the team slowly put it together - this was so much better than telling them.

Charlie looked around wide-eyed, a finger pointing at herself, “Don’t tell me you guys think I should do this… because I’ll blow this operation to shit in ten minutes flat.”

“No,” Zari shook her head, still not able to shake the amused smile off her face, her hand touched Charlie’s elbow briefly before pointing in Mick’s direction, “babe, they mean Rory.”

Mick looked up when he heard his name, “I’m sorry, who’s doing what now?”

“You,” Ava said, pushing off of the panel and walking towards the team, “are going to infiltrate the gladiator’s compound so we can find a better way to get to Sara and Claire.”

“Oh,” Mick paused, seeming to think it over for a moment before he gave a single nod, “okay. When do I start?”

Ava tried to hide her surprise, but she had not been expecting him to agree so quickly. She thought for sure there was going to have to be some bargaining involved.

“Tomorrow,” Ava gave him a quick smile, the tip of his beer in her direction was enough to show he understood her gratitude, “we need to strategize before we send you in.”

“Alright!” Nate exclaimed clapping his hands, “everyone in the library.”

“Actually,” Ava interrupted, her mind still stuck on an idea that popped into her head a few seconds ago, “let’s all take an hour.”

“Ava,” Zari said, “We’re good to keep going, it’s not a problem. Plus, we kind of took a break while you and Nora were out looking for the girls.”

“And as much as I appreciate that, I have to run an errand.”

“I’ll come with you,” Nora offered, already moving in Ava’s direction.

“Guys,” Ava implored with a laugh, “this is something I have to do alone, I promise I’ll be back soon.”

Before any of them could protest or try to convince her otherwise, Ava was walking in the direction of her and Sara’s quarters.

She needed a change of clothes.

 

Charlie was still buzzing from the feeling of Zari touching her skin and her brief forgetfulness that they were not okay, that the shapeshifter was actually shocked when Zari walked off without her.

These last few days had been so hard on everyone. The team seemed to only be holding themselves together by a thread and Charlie couldn’t help but think that it had only been harder with her and Zari at odds.

She knew most of it had to do with her lover’s guilt. Zari had been running a new system when Gideon shutdown causing the whole ship to go dark. It made sense that the token holder was taking the majority of the blame upon herself, but Charlie knew no one would want her to do this. Not Sara or Claire, not even Ava, would blame her for this unfortunate mistake (instead they’d be too busy blaming themselves).

Before Charlie could really think it through, she chased after Zari, catching up with her only a minute later.

“Hey,” she said, bumping her shoulder into Zari’s, “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Zari replied with a fake smile, “just going to check the engine room, make sure everything is running smoothly.”

“Can I join you?”

“Charlie.”

The shapeshifter tried not to react at the exhausted way Zari said her name.

“Look,” Charlie sighed, taking a wider step so she could step in front of Zari, “I know we haven’t been on the same page lately but I miss you. Is it too much to ask for us to spend a little bit of time together?”

“Right now,” Zari proclaimed incredulously, “it is. There’s too much going on for me to deal with this.”

“This as in us?” Charlie bit out, an eyebrow raising.

“Yes, as in us,” Zari pushed a hand at Charlie’s shoulder, daring her to stop her from leaving, “We’re not going to do this right now.”

Charlie scoffed, a disdainful smirk pulling at her lips as she crossed her arms, “Of course, we’re not.”

“Is there something you want to say?”

Charlie’s eyes widened at Zari’s aggressive tone, it halted the equally testy comment that was on the tip of her tongue. Typically, she’d take the bait but today all she wanted was for Zari to be by her side. This was not where she wanted this conversation to go. Shaking her head, she responded, “No… I don’t.”

Charlie had turned and walked away before Zari could open her mouth to reply.

 

Nora looked up when she heard Ray’s gentle murmur of ‘ _hey._ _’_  She found herself relaxing into his side as he stepped closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Both of their eyes following Charlie as she chased after Zari, leaving them to be the last two people on the bridge.

“What do you think is going on with those two?”

Nora shook her head, “No clue, do you know anything?”

“No, not a thing,” Ray responded, popping the word off the end of his tongue. His arm tightened around her briefly, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Nora placed a hand over his heart as she met his eyes, “not even a spark.”

Ray’s smile brightened, “Good,” he said, leaning down to briefly press his lips against her.

Nora sighed into the kiss, weaving her fingers into his hair to hold him there.

It could be said that _maybe,_ she held the kiss a little longer than necessary while they were out in the open, but her lips were moving instinctively against his, and when she finally decided to pull back he had a dazed look in his eyes that immediately made her smile, “We should go check on the kids.”

It was worth it.

“Right,” Ray said clearing his throat, “the kids.”

Nora just let out a chuckle as she grabbed his hand and walked towards the training area. She was fully expecting her kids to be running around, enjoying the jungle gym of equipment, but instead, she found her breath getting caught in the back of her throat. All of their kids were laid out on the training mats; sleeping.

“Huh,” Ray murmured from behind her, “Do you think Zari sedated them?”

“No Ray,” Nora glanced behind her, “I think she ran them down until they were too tired to do something stupid.”

“Are you sure that’s better?”

“Definitely safer,” Nora laughed, she pulled the clear door open and walked towards Mya, Thomas, and Lucas. Sinking to the ground she ran a hand down Mya’s back, when her daughter slowly blinked up at her, she murmured a sweet, “Hey, baby.”

“Mom?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Nora tucked a piece of hair back behind Mya’s ear, “what happened, kiddo?”

“Aunt Zari had us doing obst-sti-cle courses.”

“Obstacle courses, huh?” Nora exclaimed quietly, gently corrected Mya’s mispronunciation, “How was it?”

Mya smiled up at her, “It was so much fun!”

Ray had come and sit down on the mat with his back against the wall, Lucas was already up and walking over to him to sit in his lap. Thomas was slowly waking up.

“Mom? Dad?” Thomas murmured tiredly.

“Hey bud,” Ray murmured, ruffling his son’s hair, “sleep well?”

“Mhm.”

It took only a few minutes for them all to get resituated and Nora was so thankful that they spent their little break here with their kids. Both Ray and Nora were leaning against the wall, Lucas was sitting sideways in Ray’s lap dozing as he leaned against his father’s chest. Thomas was sitting between them, attempting to act much older than he was which brought a smile to her face. And Mya was tucked under her arm, leaning heavily into her side. It wouldn’t be long until they were all asleep again.

Nora spared a glance over at Ray, his eyes meeting hers and she recognized the same contentment and love she was feeling shining brightly from his eyes. She had never been more thankful for the chances she had to pull herself out of the darkness, she couldn't imagine a world where she was not surrounded by these wonderful people.

 

Ava was finishing up buttoning her shirt and throwing her navy blue suit jacket over it as she prepared to portal into her office at the Time Bureau. She wanted to pick up something that the Bureau had been working on that could aid them in the mission. It was the perfect solution to figuring out how to subdue all the guards they were going to face without messing up the current timeline.

They definitely could not run into the compound shooting men left and right, it would have to be more precise than that, and it would take way too long to determine who was vital to the timeline and who wasn’t.

No, this was the best and safest way.

Ava looked up into the mirror, meeting her eyes and taking in the exhaustion of her features.

She had put herself on temporary leave when she realized Sara and Claire were missing, but she still didn’t need or want anyone but Gary knowing what was happening. She trusted that he’d keep things running smoothly while she was gone.

So with a shift of her shoulders, she schooled her features. Standing a little taller, she ran a hand down her shirt, and turned, walking through the portal that she opened.

 

Ava briskly passed through a portal to the Waverider and asked Gideon to notify the team, only to be told they were already in the library waiting for her. With a steadying sigh, she looked down at the bag in her hand. She wasn’t able to get as many as she wanted but it should be enough to get the job done when the time came.

The team looked up as she entered the room. Nate was standing in front of the clear marker board taking down brief notes of things they needed to cover: _amount of days, supplies, communication, plan of action (aka how the hell were they going to get into the compound)_.

She let out a huff in amusement at the last item: _Ava’s mysterious escapade??_

The rest of them were spread out across the room, Charlie sat on the ground with Ray while Mick took comfort in his usual chair. Nora was leaning against the table and Zari against the wall.

“So, guessing by the board, you all want to know where I disappeared to?”

“Desperately,” Nate said dramatically, causing the group to laugh.

Ava nodded, as she moved to the front of the room, her arms remained behind her back. She played with the plastic of the small bag in her hand as she started to explain, “One of the things, I’ve been agonizing over since we saw the compound was how we were going to get into it, subdue all the guards, and walk out with Sara and Claire without leaving the timeline in shambles.

“But then I remembered. The Time Bureau, for years, has been looking for a better way to erase memories rather than bringing them into the Bureau and memory flashing them. We had this developed a few months ago and we are just starting the process of implementing them into our protocols.”

She showed the team the small bag of white pills, confusion clouded all of their eyes as they looked to her then the bag. Charlie scoffed, looking at Zari and Ray to see their reactions. Mick just grunted, murmuring something under his breath.

“All we have to do is knock them out, pop one of these into their mouth and they’ll forget everything that happened two hours prior,” Ava raised an eyebrow, allowing the implications of this new discovery to sink in for everyone.

Nate stared intently at her for a moment before shaking his head and letting out a soft laugh, “Leave it to Ava fucking Sharpe.”

Ava didn’t have any time take any offense, because he was marking the last two points on his board with dramatic check marks. It only left _amount of days, supplies,_ and _communication_.

The rest of the details came together easily as Ava and the team quickly talked out the rest of the points. They all agreed the quicker the better, so they would give Rory twenty-four hours but if he found out enough details sooner, then he would find a way to send a signal. He’d need the gladiator’s armor, and a horse (which would be harder to get but Ava knew she could find one). The ship was so stocked with weapons that there was no problem there. They’d communicate the same way they always did with comms, but Mick agreed to use code instead of just stating whatever needed to be said. Messages covered in common conversations he’d have while he infiltrated the compound.

By the time, they finished working out all the specifics, Ava was positive that they could do this safely. Her girls could be back home in the next couple of days if everything went to plan. She let out a slow breath, feeling lighter than she had in day as the reality of the statement hit her.

Two days and then they’d be home.

 

* * *

 

Sara moved her wrists against the shackles that were currently keeping her arms held high above her head. It had just passed a little over an hour and her arms were starting to burn from being in the same position for so long. Looking up, she gave her hands one final shake, her frustration hitting it’s peak as she resigned herself to the fact that she had no way of getting herself out of these cuffs.

Her ribs still burned from the beating they took, and she wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of them were broken.

Quickly diverting her attention from the pain, she took in the details of her surroundings. The room they put her in (if you could even call it that) was small and walled in with large bricks of stone, it was dark and damp, smelt slightly of mildew. Her nose wrinkled as the smell hit her.

To the right, a torch burned brightly, smothering out some of the cold. And to the left there was a table covered with a cloth, it did not take much for Sara to realize what it was underneath it.

She had used similar methods back in the League.

The only door in and out of the was to her back, slightly to the left, where if she put in the effort she could turn and see it. These men were smart, their techniques precise and on anyone else, it’d probably set them so on edge that by the time they walked in the room they were ready to spill their deepest secrets.

Luckily for her, she had something that these men had no way of knowing, and being trained by the League of Assassins was not nothing. In fact, right now, it was the greatest weapon in her arsenal.

Sara easily slipped into the old habit of slowing her breathing and feeling her heart rate slow to a craw. She focused on the wall in front of her, tunneling down into her mind. She was doing this for Claire, and Ava was going to find her soon and they would be safe; that was all that mattered.

She would endure anything these men threw at her if only, to buy Ava more time. She didn’t trust the code these gladiator’s held, and once they were finished with her they could very well go after Claire, and she would never let that happen.

Distract. Endure. Survive.

That was her strategy.

 

Sara had no idea how much time passed when the door behind her swung open hitting the stone wall with a loud crack. She purposely closed her eyes and kept mind blank as she listened to the footsteps coming in her direction.

It was one set, heavy footed.

They came near her, rounding her from the right before walking slowly towards the opposite wall. The _swoosh_ of the cloth flying off the table made Sara’s heart beat a little faster but she quickly gained control over it.

It followed a sound of the tip of a knife scraping across the table, and Sara had to stop herself from smiling at the predictability of his steps. If he kept going at this rate, she knew she could survive weeks.

When she finally opened her eyes, she was not the least bit shocked to see Matthew standing to the side of the room. A knife carefully balanced between two fingers, as he closed the space between them.

Her eyes locked with his, and she caught a hint of surprise; it was gone in a blink. He held the knife like it was apart of him, and if Sara didn’t know already, it would be evident in the way he played with it. The smooth movements masked the danger the object held.

“Do you know why you were brought here?” Matthew asked, his smoldering anger masked by a calm facade. She didn’t dare move as he ran his knife lightly over her collar bone.

Her silence seemed to be enough of a response as he removed the knife, “In our society, when an outsider takes a life of our own the next of kin gets to choose a punishment. Most are lenient and the outsider is quickly put out of their misery. But sadly for you, I decided to take another route.”

“Let me guess,” Sara said, her voice hoarse from lack of use, “pain.”

“Exactly.”

His grin widened into something cruel, and Sara had to restrain herself from reacting when he roughly grabbed the collar of her shirt, pulling it away from her skin and sliced the knife through the fabric in one clean cut. Her mind went blank with possibilities while he just grinned and turned back towards the table - she hated that she just gave him the reaction he was looking for.

Her eyes never stopped following him as he carefully laid the knife back in its proper place on the table. Pausing he looked back at her but instead of continuing he just walked out of the room, grabbing the side of the door to slam it shut behind him.  

Sara was not proud of the shaky breath that she slowly exhaled, or the tears that slide down her cheeks. She tilted her head back, biting her lip in an attempt to stop the tears and emotions from crowding her mind.

Ava would find Claire, she reminded herself, and her wife and daughter would be safe.

That’s all that mattered.

 

* * *

 

Claire sat in the corner of her cell, arms wrapped tightly around her legs as she laid her forehead against her knees. She was still trying to calm her shaking breathing, but just when she finally thought she had some control over it her breath caught in the back of her throat and a sob escaped her. She shifted moving an arm to cover her head.

It had been hours since her mom was dragged out of the room, and Claire kept replaying the scene over and over in her head. The way her mom hit the ground, the impact a loud resonating sound in their cell, made worse when that asshole swung a leg into her side.

Claire knew Sara had done it all to keep the attention on herself, to protect Claire, but seeing her mom in that much pain was too much for Claire to handle all by herself.

She hated it.

Hated the whole situation. She questioned why she ever thought it was a good idea to ask this of her mom. She put them both at risk, and it wasn’t that she didn’t know that going in, but she never thought about how far her mom would go to protect her.

_God_ , what if she was dead?

Claire buried herself deeper into the corner, trying to find something, anything to ground her. She reached up to her chest, instinctively running her hand along her neck to find the chain of the necklace that had been there since she was ten years old.

Her heart seized when she felt nothing but skin.

_No, not this too. She couldn’t lose this too._

She allowed herself only a minute to panic before she breathily murmured, “it’s okay,” her voice was shaky, tears still streaming down her face, “It’s okay, I’m okay.”

It was just a necklace. And even though, it was so much more than that, those words seemed to bring back a sense of reality to the situation. She leaned her head back against the wall, her eyes closed as she attempted to slow her heart rate.

Ava was going to find them, and she knew Sara would do everything in her power to survive until that point. Claire just had to put her faith in her Mom and her family. They would find her, and then they would find Sara and save her too. It was only a matter of time.

The sixteen-year-old opened her eyes, her pupils dilating before revealing calm icy-blueness, “ _Okay._ ”

She got to her feet, walked to the middle of the cell, and sat directly in front of the door. She bent her legs in front of her but instead of curling into herself like before she allowed her arms to rest casually across her knees.

Now, all she could to do was wait. And if those _bastards_ came for her before her family did, she’d be ready for them.

 

* * *

 

“Zari!”

Zari did not know how much more she could take of this. This feeling inside of her had her primed for a fight and the fact that Charlie was once again following her out of a room that she deliberately left because of her had her ready to lash out. How could this woman not see that she was avoiding her for a reason? She closed her eyes, speeding up as she turned a corner and made a break for her quarters.

“Hey!” Charlie yelled again, she gained on her quickly and before Zari had a chance to react she was being pulled to a stop, “will you just wait a minute? I just want to talk.”

Zari let out an incredulous laugh, “Oh, I know.”

“Okay, what is going on with you?” Charlie raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms, “I know you’re feeling guilty about this whole thing with Claire and Sara but it’s not your fault, love.”

“No,” Zari said, “that’s exactly the problem. It is my fault. I knew better than to run a newly made program while they were out on a mission but I did it anyway. That’s on me.”

“Z.”

Zari almost growled at the gentle way she said her nickname, she didn’t want this. This sympathy. She was fully prepared to carry the weight of her decision by herself but with every little attempt Charlie insisted on taking her resolve was falling.

“I need you to stop,” Zari finally said, breaking eye contact with Charlie.

“Stop what?” Charlie’s accent lilted the words, and as she took a step towards Zari. The token holder held out a hand to stop her.

“ _This_. Stop trying to comfort me or be there for me or whatever this is. I just want you to leave me alone.”

Charlie took another step closer, “No, you don’t.”

Charlie was barely inches from her when Zari’s back hit the wall, she let out a breath and in a last-ditch effort, she whispered, “Please.”

“I knew what I was getting into when I decided to pursue you,” Charlie whispered between them, her eyes falling to Zari’s lips before quickly flicking back up to her eyes. If Zari hadn’t been watching her so intently she would have missed it, “and somehow, I still don’t know how to handle the fact that you seemed to be willing to commit to everyone else but me.

Zari’s breath caught in the back of her throat. _No_. She didn’t want this, she didn’t want to hear these words coming from Charlie.

“I never expected anything from you, Z, and somewhere along the way, I forgot that and fell in love with you.” Charlie let out a small self-deprecating laugh, “I know you don’t feel the same way, but don’t lie and tell me that you don’t want me to help you through this.”   

“Charlie,” Zari breathed, shaking her head. It was her turn to deliberately direct her eyes away from Charlie’s lips, “I - ”

“It’s okay,” The shapeshifter smiled sadly, her hand tucking a piece of hair back behind Zari’s ear.

Zari ignored the voice in her head that was telling her that this was a bad idea, that it was too confusing, and grabbed a hold of Charlie’s jacket, pulling her into a kiss. A fire sparked low in her stomach when the shapeshifter let out a small sound of surprise.

“You’re such an idiot,” Zari murmured between them when she broke the kiss, steady brown eyes met confused, “I love you.”

Charlie’s face lit in surprise, then understanding, before a grin pulled at her lips. When she leaned back in, her lips close enough to meet Zari’s lips, she murmured, “You aren’t going soft on me, are you?”

“Ew, never.”

“Good,” Charlie laughed, Zari hands went to Charlie’s face to keep her close as they both leaned back into the kiss. The shapeshifter’s hands roomed to her hips, thumbs brushing over the bare skin exposed there.

The kiss became heated as time passed and when Zari found herself arching into Charlie, craving for more contact, she sharply inhaled through her nose. Hesitantly, she pulled back from the kiss, “We need to go somewhere more private; don’t want to scar the children.”

Somehow, Charlie’s smirk became more seductive. She bit her lip, as she leaned in for one more brief kiss that left Zari wanting so much more, grabbing her hand, Charlie lead them in the direction of her quarters.

 

* * *

 

_Claire sneaked through the halls of her home, it only took a few steps to walk up to her moms’ door. Gideon opened the door for her, and the two-year-old smiled up at the ceiling, whispering a quiet, “Thank you, Gideon.”_

_The little blonde quickly made her way to the end of the bed, crawling up onto the bed rest before moving onto her parents’ mattress. She kept to the left side of it, making sure to avoid her Mom’s limbs. Claire typically slept between her them when she came to their room in the middle of the night but today was special. It was her Mom’s birthday, at least, that’s what Mama whispered into her ear before she went to bed._

_Ava was on her side asleep, so Claire just curled against her Mom’s chest, sighing happily when Ava shifted to accommodate for the little body that was now against her front. It only took a few minutes until Claire was fast asleep, just like her moms’._

 

_Ava slowly woke to the feeling of a little being curled into her chest. Tendrils of confusion working their way through her mind as she instinctively placed a hand on her daughter’s back to make sure she wouldn’t roll of the bed. Slightly pulling away, she brushed Claire’s hair out of her face and pressed a kiss against her forehead._

_What was she doing in here?_

_Reaching behind her, Ava rotated a little as she gently squeezed Sara’s forearm, waiting for her to wake. When tired, ice-blue eyes blinked at her, Ava asked, “Do you remember Claire coming in last night?”_

_Sara ran a hand over her eyes. “No,” she whispered it almost as a question, “is she okay?”_

_“She’s fine, just sleeping, but I don’t remember hearing her at all last night.”_

_“Maybe,” Sara mumbled, moving a little closer to Ava. There was a mischievous tilt to her smile that made Ava suspicious, “she just wanted to be the first person to wish her Mom a Happy Birthday.”_

_“You didn’t?!” Ava exclaimed, quieting a little when Sara shushed her, “I told you I didn’t want a big celebration.”_

_“She’s your daughter, Ava.” Sara leaned in brushing a chaste kiss against her lips, smiling, “she wanted to celebrate this day with you. And I promise it’s not going to be big, just me, you, and the kid.”_

_Ava stared Sara down a moment, trying to decide if she was mad or just incredibly grateful for the woman in front of her. She had to admit that a family day with just the three of them would be wonderful._

_“Okay,” Ava relented, “but you promise that it’s going to be casual?”_

_“As casual as I can make it with a two-year-old.”_

_Ava laughed, her daughter had all of her Mama’s personality, with bold moves and rarely ever doing anything involving the word subtle. Ava was about to tell Sara that they should try to get some more sleep when Claire shifted, yawning as she stretched._

_It always took Claire a minute to fully wake up, so Ava just ran a hand up and down her back, while shifting upwards into a sitting position. Sara was still laying down on her side, Ava let her fingers play with her wife’s hair, loving the way Sara melted under her touch._

_Ava saw the exact moment her daughter remembered what today was because her face lit up in excitement before she quickly got to her feet and threw her arms around Ava’s neck. Ava let out a huff in surprise, quickly, she wrapped an arm around Claire’s back._

_When the little blonde pulled back from the embrace, she exclaimed, “Happy Birthday, Mommy!” Even if it was a little to loud this early in the morning, Ava smiled thanking Claire as her daughter hugged her again._

_Ava felt a hand move to her lower back, and tearfully looked down to see Sara smiling up at her, “Happy Birthday, babe.”_

_Ava gently laughed at Sara’s frustration as she, once again, attempted to crack an egg against the edge of a bowl. It was not going well for her, and after her fourth attempt, she looked helplessly in Ava’s direction._

_As the birthday girl, Ava had been under strict orders that she could not help with the process of baking her birthday cake. It was ironic as hell since she was the only member of this ship that had any sort of cooking skills. Sara and the others had become too used to Gideon’s capabilities and any skills that might have been there before were now long gone._

_With a shake of her head, Ava walked over to the sink to wash her hands, turning to Sara and Claire, “Alright, my loves, out of the way.”_

_Claire’s face morphed quickly to one of confusion, as she looked between her moms’, her indignant, “No,” was enough to make Ava smile. She was absolutely adorable._

_“No?” Ava questioned, she grabbed a pinch of flour from the bag on the counter, brushing her finger against her daughter’s nose, leaving a trail of the white powder. The squeal that erupted from Claire as Ava distracted her was enough for Sara and her to trade spaces._

_Sara pressed a kiss against her cheek, murmuring a quiet thank you, as she passed behind her to go wash the egg off her hands._

_With all three of them working together, it didn’t take long for all the ingredients to be mixed in the bowl, and for them to be pouring it into the cake pan that was laid out. Forty minutes later, they were pulling the cake out of the oven._

_Ava and Sara waited for it to cool before laying icing and sprinkles on the table so Claire could have her way with the cake. Granted, by the time she was done, it’d probably be too sugary for Sara and Ava  to enjoy it but it brought their daughter so much joy that they could not deny her the task._

 

_Looking around the doorway into the kitchen, Sara saw Claire giggling as she ate another piece of her cake. Her Aunt Zari was a perfect distraction with her endless amount of funny faces and jokes._

_Sara had one more gift that she wanted to give Ava, but this time she wanted to do it without the kid. Looking down at the small black box in her hand, she smiled. It was something she had been planning on giving to Ava for a while, but with how busy their lives were she had not had the time to pick it out until now._

_Ava had stepped out of the room a few minutes ago to go grab something from their room, so Sara was waiting in the hall for her to come back. She wanted to intercept Ava before they went back to the kitchen. Letting out a breath, she smiled when she saw Ava round the corner of the hall and headed in her direction. Her wife’s eyes lingered on her, and once Ava was close enough she raised an eyebrow at Sara, “Is everything okay?”_

_“Yeah,” Sara laughed a little nervously, “I just - I wanted to give you something.”_

_“Sara,” Ava started, but before she could protest, Sara grabbed her hand and put the little velvet box in her hand._

_“Just open it, Ava.”_

_It was almost comical, how hesitantly Ava opened the box, but as soon as her eyes fell upon the golden necklace, her breath caught and Sara’s name fell from her lips._

_“I know you didn’t want me to get you anything,” Sara murmured, “but I wanted this to be a reminder of us, of our family. A reminder that you are so much more than your past. I love you more than ever thought I could love someone and I just needed you to - ”_

_Sara’s speech was cut off by Ava’s lips being pressed against her own. “I love it,” Ava told her when she pulled back._

_Sara sighed in relief, grinning, “Want to try it on?”_

_Ava nodded, carefully taking the necklace out of its box and handing it to Sara. While Sara undid the clasp, Ava moved her hair to one side so Sara could gently wrap the necklace around her neck and clip the clasp securely. When it was done, Sara turned Ava around and smiled. She picked up the medallion that laid against Ava’s chest with two fingers, her thumb brushing over the intricate design._

_“Beautiful,” she said, looking up into Ava’s eyes._

_“It is,” Ava murmured, leaning forward to kiss Sara again, “thank you, my love.”_

 

* * *

 

Ava was, once again, crouched down in the bushes surrounding the gladiator’s compound. The only exception was that instead of just being accompanied by Nora, Nate and Zari had joined them.

Her eyes were fixed on Mick as he rode across the wooden bridge into the compound. Her nerves felt like little bundles of anxiety and her hands shook as she raised the scope up to her eye to follow him in further.

Nora rested a hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry, he’s going to do great.”

Ava gave her a grateful smile before murmuring an agreement. She watched him ride in like he owned the damn place. He dismounted swiftly and handed his horse to one of the boys that worked at the stable. Mick turned his eyes landing in their general area for a moment before he shifted his gaze over his new environment.

He was clad in an exact replica of the leather armor Ava and Nora had seen the first time they staked out the compound. Ava couldn’t help but be impressed at how well he wore it.

They had all agreed that the best place for him to start would be the tavern; _nobody_ talked more than men drunk on liquor.

Ava tried to calm her anxieties when he walked through the doors of the tavern. Without a visual, she pulled the scope down from her eye, “You got this, Mick.”

She heard a small grunt of agreement and smiled as she turned back to Nate, Nora, and Zari. With a couple of whispered words between them, they came to the conclusion to head back to the Waverider. It would be no use to stay out here if they didn’t have a visual.

It wasn’t until they walked back onto the Waverider that her earpiece crackled alive, she heard Mick’s voice flood into her ear, “ _Can I get a glass of your best?”_

Ava nodded to Zari, giving her a signal, and the audio feed played over the speakers of the bridge.

“ _So_. _Who’s the best company in this shithole?”_ Mick asked, earning an amused grunt from the bartender.

They had trouble hearing what he responded, but Mick’s murmur of thank you was confirmation that he had gotten a response.

Ava let out a long breath, meeting each of the eyes of the rest of her team.

And so it began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Please let me know what you thought of the chapter, and thank you again for all of your kudos and comments. They really keep me going, and knowing that you guys are out there loving this story is one of my greatest motivations!


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